The new plan has been welcomed and endorsed by pig industry representatives

It will require those who participate in USDA’s disease management and surveillance programs, such as ones for pseudorabies and classical swine fever, to register their premises and obtain a premises identification number (PIN). This will make it easier to trace back diseased animals or those exposed to disease to the farm level. Registration data includes the physical location of a farm, a contact telephone number and other public information. The information will not be stored in USDA’s database.

“NPPC believes USDA’s new business plan will significantly improve implementation of the National Animal Identification System, "NAIS is critical to protecting our national swine herd and, thus, our domestic and international markets," said NPPC President Jill Appell.

NPPC and the National Pork Board have been working to register swine premises. More than 44,300, or 66 per cent, of the estimated 67,280 hog farms have now registered. Both organisation have championed the initiative. In 2005, they formed a Swine Identification Implementation Task Force made up of producers and other industry stakeholders. The aim was to enhance the existing swine ID system, which was originally set up in 1988 to eradicate pseudorabies from the commercial herd.

The new USDA plan provides for a species-specific approach that accommodates the different production and marketing requirements of each livestock group. It allows for the consolidation of different identification systems to make traceability more precise and more efficient.