VICTORIAN producers won't be slugged a fee to maintain a property identification code, Victoria's Department of Primary Industries says.

This is despite South Australian producers potentially being forced to pay annual property identification code registration fees, as part of a cost-shifting exercise by Primary Industries and Resources South Australia.

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The DPI says it has no plans to introduce any such charges for PIC applications or registrations here.

DPI animal standards manager Tony Britt said he did not think charging for PICs was a good way to ensure the National Livestock Identification System worked.

He said charging could discourage property owners from participating in the scheme and doing what was required to ensure the NLIS was effective.

"It is so important for the entire system that producers have properties registered," Dr Britt said.

"You have to look at these things as part of a biosecurity package. There needs to be contributions from all stakeholders ... and it has been the practice of the DPI to contribute through (paying for) the property identification register."

Dr Britt said if there was a disease scare, it was of paramount importance the DPI knew where each property was to ensure cooperation from all livestock producers.

He said part of the success of Victoria's PIC registrations was due to the fact that the DPI did not charge for it.

Meanwhile, a PIRSA spokeswoman said the livestock industry had previously agreed to the introduction of cost-recovery for the allocation of property identification codes, which underpinned the national livestock tracing system.

"In 2003, PIRSA held preliminary discussions with 60 representatives from each of the livestock industry advisory groups ... on a proposed introduction of cost-recovery for the allocation of (PIC registrations)," PIRSA spokeswoman said.

"While there was consensus to the introduction of cost-recovery for the allocation of PIC's, no decisions were made.

However, The Weekly Times understands from sources close to the government that PIRSA bureaucrats planned to introduce the charges as they battled with expected cuts to their budget, following the recent re-election of the Labor Government in that state.

The PIC charges were part of a raft of measures PIRSA could take to avoid staff cuts and that the idea to impose the charge was first aired by bureaucrats.

Sources say that charges floated could be in the hundreds of dollars a year for each PIC registration. This would cover administrative costs, and had been revised up several times already.

The South Australian Farmers Federation has voiced strong opposition against any move to charge farmers for PIC registration.