This document discusses the importance and status of national animal identification in the United States. Recent food safety concerns and demands from international markets and retailers are driving the need for improved traceability in the food supply chain. While programs for tracing livestock already exist in many countries and industries, the United States is still working to implement a comprehensive national animal identification system. Key points addressed include the benefits of tracking for issues like disease control and food recalls, as well as challenges around implementation costs and developing agreements between stakeholders.

1. National Animal IdentificationNational Animal Identification
Allen Livingston IV
Department of Animal Science
April 21, 2006

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

28. Questions?Questions?