March 15, 2024

 

US pork producers support resolution for stronger swine traceability system

 

 

US pork producers approved a resolution to enhance the United States' live swine traceability system during the 2024 National Pork Industry Forum on March 7.

 

"Traceability is a priority for the industry and has been for decades," said Lori Stevermer, incoming National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) president, in a release. "These standards will improve our ability to control the spread of a foreign animal disease and lessen the economic impact of an outbreak should one occur."

 

A producer-led task force brought together stakeholders throughout the entire pork supply chain in 2022 to identify and address current gaps in the live swine traceability system. The task force offered a series of comment periods for producers to provide input on the enhanced standards, NPPC said.

 

That process resulted in the following recommendations:

 

    - All swine owners would need to register for a premises identification number (PIN);

 

    - High-risk swine (from a traceability perspective), including cull breeding stock and show/exhibition stock, would be required to be tagged with an animal identification number (AIN) radio frequency (RFID) tag;

 

    - Producers would be asked to record consistent data points, including PIN of origin, PIN of destination, date of movement, animal type and any official identification that is present. Producers would be asked to record this data electronically within three business days;

 

    - Movement data would be reported to a centralised database following the detection of a trade-limiting disease;

 

    -  Semen would require a label with the PIN of the source herd;

 

    - Cull markets and packing plants would use tattoo numbers unique to each facility.

 

"Industry delegates at Pork Forum took a proactive step to protect animal health and producers' livelihoods," said NPPC president Scott Hays. "An outbreak of a foreign animal disease in the United States, such as African swine fever or foot-and-mouth disease, would result in the immediate suspension of pork exports from the US, which totaled over US$8.2 billion in pork and pork products last year."

- Pork Business