The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is proposing amendments to the Health of Animals Regulations, Part XV: Livestock Identification and Traceability, regarding identifying and traceability requirements for livestock species within Canada and identification requirements for import and export.
The proposed amendments to the Heath of Animals Regulations would expand the scope, and improve the accessibility, timeliness and accuracy of animal identification and movement information, apply new requirements to both currently regulated species (bison, cattle, sheep and pigs) as well as proposed species (goats and cervids) that would now be regulated. Updates to the requirements for animal identification and records will also increase agility and efficiency throughout the traceability system.
The amendments will address the identified gaps in the current livestock traceability system by:
− adding farmed cervids and goats as regulated species; − include movement reporting requirements for all domestic movements of regulated species;
− reduce the time to report information to a central database from 30-60 days to 7 days for all species;
− and require more accurate location data be reported via the provincial premises identification programs which allocate premises identification numbers to agricultural sites.
By addressing the gaps in the livestock traceability system, the regulatory proposal will strengthen the ability to protect Canada's food supply and animal resource base and reduce the impact of various events on Canada's national herd and the Canadian agriculture economy.
Conforms with the World Organization of Animal Health's Terrestrial Animal Health Code, section 4.1 – General principles on identification and traceability of live animals.
|