January 16, 2007

China's Jiangsu province adopts ear-tag tracing system for live hogs

All pigs in China's Jiangsu province would have an ID- ear tag from 2007.

Jiangsu's Yurun Group, the country's largest low-temperature meat processor was one of the first to implement the system.

The ear-tag data includes pig breed, breeding data, source, and the date of entry and exit from the farm. Other information includes feed and feed additive information, and health records of the animal concerned.

Hogs without ear-tags would not be permitted to leave the breeding farm and would not be allow to be transported or slaughtered. Traders are not permitted to sell, purchase or transport live hogs without ear-tags.

To ensure credibility, ear-tags are to be destroyed after the hog is slaughtered. Yurun's General Manager for its technical centre, Zhao Ning, said that all hogs delivered to its slaughter sites are supplied from an authorised base, with every hog already having ear-tags when delivered. A quarantine official could implement quality control by reading the data from the ear-tags. Hogs with a checkered history would not be allow to be sent for slaughter, according to Zhao.