October 16, 2006

Exports to Japan prompt cattle ID tag use in the US

Consumer pressure from Japan is forcing US cattle businesses to adopt the national system for tracking animals and officials hope to have it on a widespread voluntary basis by 2009.

The Japanese government, along with its consumers, wants to make sure that any US beef it imports can be traced to its origins and comes from cows not more than 20 months old. Japan reopened its market to US beef in July after close to 3 years of banning US beef due to mad cow concerns.

The system creates an opportunity for producers to verify the age of the calves they are selling, said Todd Clemons, president of Okeechobee Livestock Market in Okeechobee. The system pays ranchers a premium of about US$20 per animal.

Some 80 percent of calves from the Okeechobee Livestock Market sold has tags that make it possible to verify their age and birthplace.

The calves are shipped to feedlots and some are then sold to Japan and other export markets when they are finished.

The tags are a critical part of the National Animal Identification System the USDA is developing.

The programme would allow tracking of animals through the system from farm to feedlot and slaughterhouse.

Groups such as the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest said besides assuring consumers on mad cow concerns, the system also helps in tracking down food-borne illnesses caused by bacteria, the centre's food safety director, Caroline Smith DeWaal, said.

However, the livestock industry's concerns about culpability for outbreak, on top of  costs concerns, have slowed the programme.