January 10, 2013

US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service releases rule on livestock traceability

The final rule on traceability requirements for livestock moved interstate was published by the US' Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) on Wednesday (Jan 9) in the Federal Register.

Though the final rule mainly focuses on cattle, it leaves in place existing poultry-related traceability regimes and requires records be retained for poultry for two years. The rule becomes effective March 11, 2013.

APHIS is extending the phase-out period for manufacturer-coded AINs from 12 months to 24 months to make the transition less burdensome for producers. The Service is also revising the definition of official eartag and adding a new definition of official eartag shield. These changes will allow the use of State or Tribal postal abbreviation or codes within the US Route Shield in lieu of ''US''

They are revising the language of the exemption from the traceability requirements for animals moved interstate to custom slaughter to indicate clearly that the exemption applies to all interstate movement to a custom slaughter facility. The proposed rule contained language that implied that the meat must be consumed by the person moving the animal to custom slaughter. This was not the intent of the proposed rule. A significant number of backyard poultry growers commented and expressed concerns about the official identification requirement for movement of poultry to a custom slaughter facility.

The Service is also reducing the requirement for the maintenance of interstate movement records for poultry and swine from five years to two years because, as noted by numerous commenters representing those industries, poultry and swine have shorter lifespans than the other livestock species covered by this rulemaking. The requirement will remain five years for cattle and bison, sheep and goats, cervids, and equines.

In addition to eartags, in this final rule, they are recognising brands, when accompanied by an official brand inspection certificate as means of official identification for cattle when the shipping and receiving States or Tribes are in agreement. APHIS is making this change in response to the many comments they received on this issue advocating that they retain brands as a means of official identification for cattle. Additionally, they are allowing similar provisions for tattoos and breed registry certificates.

In response to many commenters from the cattle industry, they will make feeder cattle (cattle under 18 months of age) subject to their official identification requirements in a separate rulemaking rather than in this one. They will continue to allow backtags to be used in lieu of official identification on direct-to-slaughter cattle rather than eventually requiring official identification, as they had originally proposed to do. They are stipulating, however, that for backtags to be used on such animals, the animals will have to be slaughtered within three days of their movement to the slaughter plant.

They are no longer requiring that cattle and bison moved interstate to an approved tagging site be officially identified at the site prior to commingling with cattle or bison from other premises. Under this final rule, commingling can occur prior to official identification provided that other practices are used that will ensure that the identity of the animal's consignor is accurately maintained until the animal is tagged with an official eartag. They are making this change in response to numerous comments expressing concerns that operations at approved tagging sites could be slowed during busy periods. They are clarifying the circumstances under which multiple official identification methods, including official eartags, may be used on the same animal.

The Service is also exempting poultry growers that are not participating in the National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP) and that receive chicks from a hatchery or redistributor from the official identification requirements, with the stipulation that the producers maintain certain records, e.g., of the supplier of the birds. Many backyard poultry growers noted that group/lot identification of these birds was not applicable and that individual identification of these chicks was impractical. They are allowing the use of other interstate movement documentation, in lieu of an ICVI, as agreed to by the shipping and receiving States or Tribes, for cattle and bison of all ages. The proposed rule only allowed such an exemption for cattle and bison less than 18 months of age.

APHIS is providing additional exemptions from the ICVI requirement for equines moving interstate under certain conditions. For poultry, the key aspects of the final rule include: identification, documentation, exemptions, and record keeping.