Farmscape for January 3, 2006  (Episode 2013)

The Canadian Pork Council's National Hog Identification and Traceability System Working Group says one of first orders of business for 2006 will be to develop a communications framework to keep stakeholders up to date on the latest developments related to traceability.

The CPC's National Hog Identification and Traceability System Working Group met just before Christmas to review feedback gathered during public consultations this fall into a proposed national traceability system for swine.

The Canadian pork industry is targeting full traceability by early 2008.

Working Group Chair Dennis McKerracher says priorities during 2006 will include developing the business structure that will allow delivery of the system, identification of funding and costs and development of a compliance and enforcement strategies document.

As well, he says, the group will work with representatives of the provincial pork organizations and the CPC to develop a traceability communications framework.

Clip-Dennis McKerracher-Canadian pork Council 

It's important that, as we move through the next two years, that there's a very effective communications strategy out there to inform producers and other value chain members about what the traceability system working committee is doing and how we are moving toward the end goal.

We'll have a framework developed in the first half of 2006.

Of course that framework will be used by the provinces and the Canadian pork Council to continually keep producers informed over the next year and a half to two years.

McKerracher says other issues that will need to be addressed during 2006 include possible changes to the tag numbering scheme, further development of the linked premise approach, refinement of information to be reported from abattoirs and procedures related deadstock pickup.

For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

       *Farmscape is a presentation of Sask Pork and Manitoba Pork Council