Traceability … A Global Snapshot

Canada 's proposed traceability system in line with other countries

Whole-life traceability is fast becoming the gold standard around the world.

Specific identification varies among livestock groups and countries, as does recording animal movements. However, the concept of a mandatory system, or one leading to this status, persists throughout, including recording/reporting all movements in a central or linked database system.

European Union

European countries began requiring animal identification more than 10 years ago. Several member countries including France, Belgium, and Ireland benefit from a whole of life food traceability system, also known as the farm to fork concept.

For cattle it means dual tags, registration at birth, and all movements recorded in a central database.

The Netherlands was one of the first countries in the world to require animal identification; now all member states of the European Union must do so. Dutch dairy producers have had to identify all calves within 72 hours of birth since 1992.

Cattle are identified with an identical ear tag in each ear. Each ear tag shows an ID-code, country code, live number, working number, and bar code. All information is stored in one national database, together with the unique farm number, sex and date of birth of the calf, hair colour, and ID code of dam.

Birth of calves, arrival and removal from farms, death, import, export, and slaughter must all be reported to the national system within three days of movement. Official farm inspections check that animals are identified.

If a farm is not in compliance, it can be embargoed from moving an individual animal or the whole herd, depending on the severity of the offence. Government officials actually have the authority to depopulate a herd if the animals' origins cannot be retrieved from the national database.

United Kingdom

After seeing its livestock industry ravaged first by BSE and then by Foot-and-Mouth disease, UK dairy producers must comply with perhaps the most stringent animal identification requirements in the world.

Penalties for flouting rules run as high as $10,000 for each offense, and in the worst case, imprisonment.

Each farm is registered with a unique CPH number identifying county, parish, and holding (county, town, and farm). Dairy calves are double ear tagged, and must receive their primary tag within 36 hours of birth. Calves must be registered with the National Cattle Tracing System.

If registered within 27 days of birth, the animal receives a checkbook-style passport. The passport stays with the animal for life, and movements, slaughter, or death must be reported within three days of the event.

Late identification applications are registered, but no passports issued. Animals without passports can be milked on their home farms, but can never be sold or enter the food chain.

Producers receive a quarterly statement detailing all cattle, movements, and deaths registered to their farms. The information must be confirmed, corrected, and returned. Also, producers must keep their own records for at least 10 years; all computer records must be backed up by hard copies.

The UK also monitors the system through farm inspections to check records, cattle tagging, and passports.

Japan

The Japan Agricultural Standard is a voluntary, more comprehensive system of traceability that exists alongside Japan's mandatory traceability requirements.

Companies taking part in the JAS program must be certified by the Japanese government and take part in a regular audit process.

Information such as the animal's age, breed, and sex, along with what the animal was fed, where it was raised, and the contact details of the slaughter plant must be recorded. All of this information is available to supermarket customers by in-store computers. The JAS traceability system really emphasizes the increasing demands of consumers and overseas governments relating beef production.

United States

Administered by USDA's Animal and Plant Inspection Service, the National Animal Identification System is a co-operative state/federal/industry program being created to track animal movements from birth to death.

It will be established over time through the integration of three key components: premises identification, animal identification, and animal tracking.

All states were required to have both a system capable of premises registration and a system of animal identification numbering before July 1, 2005.

By 2008, all premises will be required to be registered and all animals identified with tags or other devices. A year later, all animal movements must be reported. The entire program will be mandatory by January 2009.

Eventually the NAIS will allow health officials to identify all animals and premises that have had contact with a foreign or domestic animal disease within 48 hours of an initial presumptive-positive diagnosis.

As an information system that provides for rapid tracing of infected and exposed animals during an outbreak situation, the NAIS will help limit the scope of such outbreaks and ensure they are contained quickly.

Canada

Traceability initiatives are advancing aggressively and systematically in stages, by sector, provincially and nationally.

The objective of the Agricultural Policy Framework of the federal, provincial, and territorial governments is to have 80% of domestic product available at the retail level traceable through the agri-food continuum by 2008.

Can-Trace, an industry-led, national initiative has developed integrated data standards and business cases for full-chain traceability of all food products grown, manufactured, and sold in Canada based on the EAN International and the Uniform Code Council system.

Products of farm origin can be traced and tracked (backward and forward) from the farm, through intermediary steps (trucking, feed lot, and assembly points), to the next level of the agri-food chain.

Canada is the first country to implement RFID tagging nationally. The multi-purpose ISO format 3– read tags (RFID, bar-code, and visual) provides unique animal identification within the herd, dairy industry, and Herdbook, as well as health tracking and tracing, and export.

The Canadian Radio Frequency Identification Reader Program will improve the tracking and tracing of cattle beyond the farm gate using radio frequency identification reader technology.

The Canadian beef industry relies on minimum regulatory standards, single RFID tagging, farm of origin traceability, tag distribution, and retirement of tag numbers (export, abattoir, and dead stock).

The Canadian Cattle Identification Agency recently enhanced its multi-species, national, secure database to accommodate a premises allocator registry, animal movement, sightings, geo-referencing, zoning, and age verification.

Agri-Tracabilite Québec is responsible for a provincial, permanent traceability system for agricultural products (dairy, beef, sheep, and pork) from the farm to the table. Animals must be tagged at birth, their RFID tags/numbers activated within 45 days, and all movement including transportation reported.

The Canadian Livestock Identification Agency has emerged as an over-arching body to champion an integrated and comprehensive national program offering producers a competitive advantage. It is a forum for the delivery of specific traceability programs for all food producing species—bovine, bison, sheep, goats, porcine, equine and poultry.

North American Trilateral Traceability Initiative

The Chief Veterinary Officers of Canada, the US, and Mexico agreed in March 2004 to establish an Animal ID Subcommittee to the Emergency Management Working Group of the North American Animal Health Committee.

The collective goal of the trilateral subcommittee is to harmonize animal ID programs through information sharing to promote compatibility and avoid duplication. The subcommittee will consider how each country is approaching animal and premises identification, the current status, the objectives, potential issues, and proposed solutions.

By strengthening its cattle tracking and tracing system, Canada demonstrates to consumers and the world a commitment ensuring the health of Canadian cattle and the safety of its livestock production.