eNVDs Explained: A Guide for Agents and Saleyards
The National Vendor Declaration (NVD) and its electronic version, the eNVD, travel with every consignment of cattle, sheep and goats. This guide explains what they are, how producers create them, and how agents and saleyards manage them on sale day.
What are NVDs and eNVDs?
NVDs communicate the food safety and treatment status of every animal as it moves through the supply chain. The eNVD is the digital alternative to the paper NVD, covering consignment paperwork, livestock assurance declarations and health declarations in one system.
Producers must be accredited with Livestock Production Assurance (LPA), the red meat industry's on-farm assurance program, to use NVDs and eNVDs. eNVDs are available for cattle, EU cattle, sheep, lambs, goats and bobby calves.
How producers create eNVDs
- Online: log in through myMLA and open eNVD from the linked LPA account.
- eNVD app: includes QR code sharing, so a consignment can be passed on without internet access.
- Licensed third-party software: several farm software providers are licensed to create eNVDs inside their own systems.
Draft consignments can be created up to 28 days in advance, and producers have 48 hours after submitting an eNVD to duplicate and correct it.
Why paper NVDs get rejected
A paper NVD is invalid if handwriting is illegible, questions are incomplete, signatures are missing, both yes and no boxes are marked, it has been photocopied, white-out has been used, or one NVD has been used for multiple consignments. eNVDs remove most of these problems at the source.
What agents and saleyards do with eNVDs
On sale day, agents and saleyards need to receive each consignment's declaration, check it, match it to the right vendor and lot, and record the NVD's unique identifier with the sale. When declarations arrive by email, paper and app, that matching is where time is lost.
Sources: Integrity Systems: NVDs and eNVDs; Integrity Systems: Saleyards. Last reviewed September 2026.
Frequently asked questions
An eNVD is the electronic version of the National Vendor Declaration. It records the food safety and treatment status of livestock in a consignment and replaces the paper NVD with a faster, more accurate digital form.
Producers accredited with Livestock Production Assurance (LPA) can create eNVDs through myMLA, the eNVD app, or licensed third-party farm software.
Yes. Producers have 48 hours after submitting an eNVD to duplicate and correct it.
Draft eNVD consignments can be created up to 28 days in advance.
Saleyards and agents using AgriNous receive electronic declarations in an eNVD inbox in YardNous or AgentNous, where each declaration is linked to its consignment and sale record.
Stop chasing paperwork on sale day
Talk to our team about managing eNVDs in AgentNous and YardNous.