AN EXPLOSIVE report on foot and mouth disease is being kept secret from producers.

While key stakeholders in the beef and sheep industries have been briefed on the report, federal Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig is refusing to release it to the public yet.

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The report, conducted by former National Water Commission chairman Ken Matthews, is believed to expose major holes in the capacity of Australia to cope with an outbreak of foot and mouth disease.

An email was sent out on Monday advising those who had the report not to speak about it.

The Weekly Times believes the report is particularly damning over the lack of traceability for sheep and goats, and critical of the current visual tag and paper-based system.

A spokeswoman for Senator Ludwig said he had provided the review to state ministers in late October, and wrote to them "seeking co-operation in strengthening further national biosecurity arrangements".

The spokeswoman said the report would be released shortly, but did not say when.

Victorian Minister for Agriculture Peter Walsh said a foot and mouth outbreak was the "No. 1 horror scenario for our livestock industries".

He said the Matthews report identified sheep identification as a significant issue.

"The Victorian Government will continue to work with the sheep industry on encouraging voluntary adoption of electronic NLIS tags for sheep and goats, and will continue to push the Commonwealth to move forward on a national level," he said.

Mr Walsh said it was important for the Commonwealth to act on the recommendations and "not let it sit gathering dust like the 2009 Beale Review".

Cattle Council of Australia executive director David Inall said he had a copy of the report, and received a briefing with the understanding that its release was "imminent".

"(But) we've then been emailed today (Monday) to tell us that the report is embargoed," he said.

A spokesman for the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry said it was "not able to provide comment on the contents of the report".

"The report is not available for public release at this time," the spokesman said.

Updated costings from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics make up part of the report, which estimates a 12-month outbreak of foot and mouth would cost industry $16 billion.

Even a three-month outbreak would leave a bill of $7.1 billion.