A Maffra cattle producer has pleaded guilty to misleading National Vendor Declaration forms for his stock.
Michael Daly faced the Sale Magistrate's Court recently.
Agriculture Victoria said Mr Daly moved 91 heifers from his property to a pre export quarantine property in Romsey in May 2019.
Mr Daly signed a National Vendor Declaration form declaring he had owned all cattle since their birth.
Agriculture Victoria authorised officers attended the pre-export quarantine property in late May 2019 and identified Mr Daly's heifers had earmarks that indicated they had not been born and bred on his property.
This was despite having white breeder tags which displayed Mr Daly's property identification code.
As a result of the department's intervention, the consignment was removed from export.
Agriculture Victoria said the investigation was complex, with officers travelling to New South Wales to confirm the actual origin of the cattle through both their distinctive earmarks and DNA analysis which matched them to bulls on properties in Cooma.
Agriculture Victoria Animal Health and Welfare Compliance manager Daniel Bode said Victoria's regulatory and assurance systems underpinned high standards for Victorian agricultural exports and the industry's reputation for safe, quality produce.
"To maintain this status, it's critical that stock movements are accurately recorded," he said.
"Whole of lifetime traceability, through the NLIS, is critical to meeting trade expectations, and supporting our global reputation for high-quality food and means we can respond quickly to major food safety or disease incidents."
The NLIS system uses an electronic ear tag or device, marking each animal with its own individual identification number.
Mr Bode said it was vital the right NLIS tag was used, otherwise the correct breeding and life history of an animal would not be recorded.
"All livestock movements must be accompanied by the appropriate documentation and meet the necessary NLIS requirements for monitoring and traceability," he said.
While the Magistrate accepted that Mr Daly's early guilty plea and lack of prior convictions were relevant mitigating factors, he emphasised the behaviour was unacceptable to industry and the community.
As a general deterrence, because of the seriousness of the offending and the significant risk these offences could cause the industry, Mr Daly was released on a two-year undertaking to be of good behaviour, and also ordered to pay costs of $135.82.
