Canada - National Swine Traceability System Business Plan Nearing Completion

The Canadian Pork Council reports the business plan for a national swine traceability system is now very close to complete. The Canadian Pork Council's Hog Traceability Working Group is in the final stages of developing the business plan for establishing a national swine traceability system. That plan will be presented for consultation with swine producers beginning next month. CPC Technical Affairs Specialist Francois Bedard says the plan's three key pillars are the ability to identify animals, the ability to identify premises, or locations where animals are housed or assembled, and the ability to track the movement of animals. "We broke it down into four different elements. One is premise identification and registration. We are actually also working on capturing slaughter data information, mostly in the western provinces because there are no marketing boards in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. We are also standardizing our tattoo number scheme in Canada, trying to have a national tattoo number for market hogs going to slaughter. The last element, or the fourth element, is the details that pertain to which animals need identification and which circumstances are acceptable for group identification and the reporting and the recording of the movement data of those animals". Because the national livestock registry is a multi-species initiative, Bedard says, it's difficult to be sure when it will be operational but it's hoped premise registration will be underway within the next year and a half. He says the tattoo numbering strategy and regional slaughter information databases are moving forward and should be in place by next summer. He says there's lot to do in terms of building the national ID and movement reporting system but the hope is to phase in the elements of that system by 2008.