Deadline looms for adoption of new pig export identification protocols

Thursday, October 16, 2014

by SUSAN MANN

Time is running out for Canadian hog farmers exporting pigs to the United States to get the proper identification for their animals as everyone must use the new PigTrace Canada herd marks or individual animal numbers by Nov. 1.

But currently less than 50 per cent of Canadian pigs being exported to the United States have the correct PigTrace identification, PigTrace says in an October news release.

Ontario Pork industry and member services manager Dean Gurney says the number is low because “we’ve just fairly recently got the deadline of this Nov. 1 date so not as many people have been proactive in getting the (new) identification. It’s just taking a while for people to get on the program.”

Jeff Clark, PigTrace Canada manager, says another reason has to do with production. Pigs were given the older forms of identification when they were born and “some of those animals are still waiting to go across the border. It takes time for those animals to grow and be exported as 50-pounders.”

PigTrace identification for export animals became mandatory on July 1 when amendments to the federal Health of Animals Act regulations became effective. As part of the changes, all pig farmers and pig custodians, such as auction markets or transporters, must properly identify, keep records and report the movement of pigs under their care and control from birth or import to slaughter or export, according to a July 2 Canadian Food Inspection Agency press release. For those failing to comply with the requirements, they could face warnings, fines or prosecution.

For exports, the industry was given some time to make the transition to the new system. But as of Nov. 1, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will no longer accept the former methods of identification for export pigs, such as the site identification numbers allocated by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the metal Health of Animals tags.

The two forms of identification acceptable for live exports are:

• The herd mark – This is a five-character, site-specific number that is registered with the Canadian Pork Council’s provincial member pork organization. It is commonly called the shoulder slap tattoo number. The herd mark can be on a PigTrace ear tag or as an ear tattoo.
• Individual identification – This is a 15-digit number is unique to each pig. It goes on a PigTrace ear tag.

Breeding swine and feeder pigs for export must have the new forms of identification. Clark says slaughter pigs going directly from Canadian farms to American slaughter plants don’t need any identification. “The United States doesn’t require identification on those,” he says. But “if those animals are flowing through an assembly yard or an auction (in Canada) there’s a chance they could still stay in Canada so we would advise people to identify them before they leave the farm,” he explains.
 
Pigs being exported for other purposes, such as to go to exhibitions or zoos, will be issued an import permit by the United States Department of Agriculture. Clark says it’s really up to the USDA to determine what they’d require, adding this type of export is very rare. But people can’t go wrong with putting the 15-digit ear tag individual identification number on those pigs, he says.

CFIA’s release says traceability measures, such as record keeping and animal identification, help the agency identify and locate animals throughout the supply chain. This helps the agency find specific animals in animal emergency situations. BF