In the year 2000 Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) initiated a pilot group of beef and cattle farmers to partake in an environmental management system that would be soon implemented into the cattle industry. The standard aimed for the pilot group was  ISO 14001 which is the current system standard for principal management systems and particularises the requirements for the introduction and maintenance of an environmental management system. During this period of development, Commonwealth and state governments who had been promoting EMS models in the agricultural sector began to introduce these methods to the nation's red meat industry.