2. Driving ForcesDriving Forces
Recent news stories have focused on
– Tracking cattle from birth to finished product to
control the risk of BSE
– Tracking food shipments to reduce the risk of
tampering
– And on traceability systems to detail country of
origin, animal welfare, and genetic composition
3. Driving ForcesDriving Forces
In the US and internationally it has become
essential that all sectors of the food product
chain and governments assure that livestock
and meat are identified
– This includes procedures and record keeping
that assure traceability through all or parts of
the complete life cycle of an animal
4. Driving ForcesDriving Forces
As consumers become more educated, they
demand more information about their food supply,
including the origin and processing of products
Recent animal health and food borne illness scares
in all parts of the globe are creating a demand for
source verification, food safety and supply chain
identification of food products
5. Importance of Animal ID (AID)Importance of Animal ID (AID)
Traceability is a way to identify livestock and
poultry and their products according to their
origin, as far back in the production sequence as
necessary to:
– Determine ownership
– Identify lineage
– Improve palatability
– Assure food safety
– Assure compliance in source, process, and production
practice verification programs
6. Livestock Origin andLivestock Origin and
OwnershipOwnership
For centuries producers have identified
livestock by marks, notches, brands, or tags,
in order to be able to claim ownership
However, many producers in the U.S. do
not identify their animals or keep records of
birth, ownership, and movements or sales-
transactions
7. Foreign Animal DiseasesForeign Animal Diseases
The US livestock industry has a long history of
identifying and tracking animals to control the
spread of animal diseases
– 1940 brucellosis eradication
Animal ID has been based, in part, on public need
for ongoing surveillance/eradication programs for
FADs
– BSE and FMD
– Avian influenza
8. National BiosecurityNational Biosecurity
September 11, 2001 brought about the realization
of not only terrorism in the US, but the risk of
bioterrorism in the nation’s food supply as well
The agriculture sector could be vulnerable to
attacks by extremists that would introduce a FAD
into a large animal operation
– This could have a devastating impact on the economy
and damage consumer confidence
9. International Market DemandsInternational Market Demands
The international political theatre uses traceability systems
as a means of demanding that specific governments either
develop systems of traceability or face new requirements
in order to trade in each unique market situation
Retail distribution channels are also requiring more
information about the products they are receiving and
export customers are beginning to demand that their
suppliers trace back products to original sources in order to
protect the customers’ investment in their own brand
equity
10. C.O.O.L. RequirementsC.O.O.L. Requirements
COOL is a marketing program designed to
provide information regarding the country-of-
origin of certain foods to consumers
AID is not intended to be apart of COOL, it is
only for use in tracking animal diseases
If and when COOL is enacted by the US
government, AID could be used to assist in COOL
operations
11. RetailersRetailers
Major retail outlets- as a part of supply chain
management- are demanding a more responsive
supply chain to better inform their customers and
market their products
Traceability is also important for determining
compliance in branded-meat programs that require
source-verification, production practice-
verification and/or process-verification
12. RetailersRetailers
Animal ID could be used for trace back from
farm-to-consumer for all animals, carcasses, cuts,
and meat trimmings by using a single
identification number
Swift & Company has launched Swift Trace™,
which is a traceability program that utilizes
scanned images of animal retinas and ear tag
information
– This allows the company the ability to trace from
individual animal to boxed beef
13. Value-based MarketingValue-based Marketing
ID programs could assist producers in
maximizing profit and identifying animals
that exhibit:
Higher growth rates
Increased feed efficiency
Require less medical treatments
Produce the best grading carcasses
14. Value-based MarketingValue-based Marketing
Another benefit of this technology is to show data
to producers that are trying to make improvements
in their herd
The packing industry would be better able to
reward producers for higher quality carcasses
This would also help facilitate more of a
partnership between producers and packers
15. Value-added MarketingValue-added Marketing
Traceability would allow branded-beef
programs the ability to verify where
products come from and what practices
were performed
This includes the use of:
– Implants/ionophores
– Antibiotics
– Vaccination records
– Feeding regimens
16. Food Safety ProblemsFood Safety Problems
Traceability effectively reduces risk exposure by
enabling food producers to identify, isolate and
correct the problem quickly and efficiently, so that
the public health is protected and the economic
fallout from such incidents can be minimized
This includes:
– Potential danger of meatborne pathogens to the
restaurant industry
– The threat of meatborne pathogen occurrence in the
meat/poultry purveying sector
17. Crisis ManagementCrisis Management
During fiscal year 2004, there were 47
recalls involving 2.7 million pounds of
meat/poultry products in the US
Traceback procedures would, in theory,
allow companies to track at least 98% of the
selected lot with in a four hour period
18. TechnologyTechnology
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags
are currently being used on boxed beef by
many large retailers including Wal-Mart
and Swift & Co.
Other technological advances include using
retinal scanning and GPS recording
19. Current Status of AIDCurrent Status of AID
European union
All 25 countries operate under common animal ID
requirements which call for individual tagging at
birth and notification of animal movements
throughout its life
Japan
Similar to European requirements for tagging and
tracing movements
20. Current Status of AIDCurrent Status of AID
Australia
– First country outside of Europe to adopt a
national program; Became fully mandatory in
2005
New Zealand
– Quickly followed Australia in pursuing a
national program; Goal set to have mandatory
ID in place by mid 2007
21. Current Status of AIDCurrent Status of AID
Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina
– Traditionally have operated under lot
identification
– Each has begun to move toward mandatory
individual identification
– Uruguay has set a deadline for mandatory ID
by mid 2006.
22. Current Status of AIDCurrent Status of AID
Canada
– National ID became mandatory in 2002 with
requirements for individual ID to occur on all cattle that
move beyond their “herd of origin”
World Trade Organization
– Stated that the importing country cannot enforce more
rigorous standards for imported meat than those applied
to the domestic industry or use these standards as trade
barriers
23. Status of US AIDStatus of US AID
Much of the debate over AID is still
unresolved at this time
Premise identification is currently being
recorded in all states
– Mandatory premise registration in Texas begins
July 1, 2006
24. Status of US AIDStatus of US AID
http://www.tahc.state.tx.us/animal_id/NAIS--BenchmarksAndTimelines--April2006.pdf
25. Status of US AIDStatus of US AID
Different industries are currently setting up forms
of identification for their respective species
– The beef industry is planning on using electronic
tracking devices such as RFID tags
All information concerning premises and animals
will be kept in a national database that the USDA
will have access to in case of a disease outbreak
26. Status of US AIDStatus of US AID
Initial start-up costs will be different than
the costs of a fully operational system in all
50 states
It is anticipated that the federal government
and all industry stakeholders will share in
the costs of an identification system
27. ConclusionsConclusions
Due to the size and scope of the US beef
industry, US AID is still a few years from
completion
More bureaucracy will continue to shape
AID
Next I will discuss how AID affects different areas of agriculture
Mainly for beef cattle, but chickens, swine, horses, and other animals will be involved as well
Swine and poultry will be identified by group identification more than likely
Talk about animals moving from one location to the next
Talk about foreign animals as well
Only state and federal officals will have access to the database
NCBA setting up a private database to store marketing info