March 6, 2006

US groups aim for total participation in swine identification system

A mutual goal of the National Pork Board (NPB) and National Pork Producers Council (NPCC) is to have 100 percent participation by the nation's pork producers to voluntarily register their swine farms, or premises, in the National Swine Identification System by the end of 2007.

The two groups have led an industry task force that developed the swine identification system as part of the government's National Animal Identification System.

The NPB and NPPC hired Bobby Accord, former administrator of the US Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health inspection Service, who is now a private consultant, to head up the swine identification system task force.

Accord told attendees at the National Pork Industry Forum Thursday afternoon that the task force has held firm to its opinion that the animal identification system needs to be species-specific because of differences in how the animals are raised and other factors such as the movement of the animals from state to state and across national borders.

One of the greatest financial risks for the US pork industry is the possibility of a foreign animal disease finding its way into the US, said representatives of both of the producer groups. Export sales for US pork are valued at about US$2.3 billion annually and contribute approximately US$23 per head in returns to the industry. These are at great risk if a catastrophic disease outbreak should occur, the officials said.

The best protection against that happening or to mitigate the impact if an outbreak of a foreign animal disease should occur is for every pork producer to register his or her premises and attain a premises identification number.

Premises identification would enhance the efforts of animal health officials to identify the source of a disease and contain it rapidly, the officials said. The goal would be to enable traceback of a disease to the originating farm or premises within 48 hours.

Accord said in addition to swine producers, any location in which swine would be accumulated or held would also need to register. These would include packing plants and buying stations, auction markets, hog collection sites, county and state fair sites, breeding swine sales and pig shows, veterinary clinics and possibly livestock transporters.

The NPB and NPPC also have a goal of making the swine identification system mandatory by December of 2008. Having 100 percent voluntary participation by the end of 2007 would make the transition to the mandatory system in late 2008 much easier.