Southland Regional Council is confident it’s proposed code of practice for bovine tuberculosis testing will rid the province of the disease for a second time.

The voluntary scheme would be used post-movement of stock to ensure areas with TB didn’t re-infect regions which had eradicated it.

Southland was declared TB free in 2008 but a cow in Edendale tested positive for the disease in April.

The outbreak sparked a war of words between the Southland Regional Council and the Animal Health Board, who the council blamed for the TB return.

Good relations have since been restored, and SRC chief executive Ciaran Keogh says locals can’t afford to shirk responsibility.

The Animal Health Board's TB-free Southland committee says the tests are likely to be in place for the entire country.