October is National Pork Month, and one thing U.S. pork producers asked the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) to do is to lead an effort to update the existing swine traceability system. So, NPPC is asking swine producers, veterinarians, cull swine and breeding operators and show pig enthusiasts to comment on the draft standards by Oct. 27, 2023.
In 2006, U.S. swine producers voluntarily adopted animal traceability standards to strengthen the industry’s ability to track animal movements with the goal of controlling the spread of animal diseases, particularly foreign animal diseases such as African swine fever, foot-and-mouth disease, and classical swine fever.
International markets would close immediately if a foreign animal disease were discovered in the U.S. So, strengthening live-swine traceability will better assure animal health officials that they have access to comprehensive movement data and show trading partners that the United States knows where disease-free animals are and that exported products are safe.
Updates will address gaps in the following areas:
- Breeding stock — sows and boars — cull animals, and show pigs, whose movements currently are difficult to track, giving each a unique ID number.
- Premises registration for all producers, cull and breeding operations and show pig farms.
- Movement reporting for all pigs to a centralized database that is available to animal health officials.
NPPC is seeking industry input before finalizing the updated standards early next year and presenting a resolution to delegates at the 2024 National Pork Industry Forum in March.
To view the current draft standards, make a comment, or learn more, visit nppc.org/trace.