Mandatory Pig Movement Reporting Starts 1 July 2014
CANADA - The Chair of the Canadian Pork Council’s (CPC) Identification and Traceability Committee expects mandatory movement reporting of pigs to begin in the summer of 2014.
8 November 2013
3 minute read
“CPC and its provincial member organizations are preparing for the regulatory amendment to the federal Health of Animals Regulation, which is expected to announce 1 July 2014 as the official coming into force date,” stated Oliver Haan, Chair of CPC’s ID and Traceability Committee.
“CPC’s PigTrace Canada programme aims to provide animal health and food safety officials with the best possible information regarding pig identification and movement by requiring anyone handling pigs to report movement information within seven days,” added Mr Haan. “Mandating PigTrace through federal regulation is an important step towards building a successful system that responds quickly to disease outbreaks and food safety emergencies.”
Proposed amendments to the Health of Animals Regulations were first published by the Government of Canada during the summer of 2012. CPC and its partners have since worked with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) on an appropriate timeline to implement the traceability programme under federal law. 1 July 2014 sets a reasonable timeframe to allow the CPC and its provincial member organizations to launch the programme.
CPC’s Chair, Jean-Guy Vincent, stated that recent discussions at CPC’s fall meeting in Ottawa confirmed that pork industry leaders continue to support the full implementation of traceability through the PigTrace Canada programme.
Mr Vincent told members, “CPC has been working on the development of PigTrace since 2002. I’m happy to see how much the programme has grown, and am excited that it will soon be implemented right across Canada.”
CPC will initiate a comprehensive outreach campaign on PigTrace in January 2014, once programme funding is solidified. Mr. Haan notes “CPC has developed a variety of movement reporting tools that will allow pork producers to choose the format and technology that works best for them. We are working with federal and provincial governments and our industry partners to make sure programme requirements are clear for all stakeholders.”
For more information on PigTrace and producer requirements to report animal movement under the regulations starting 1 July 2014, please visit www.pigtrace.ca.
