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This year marks the tenth anniversary of the
Canadian
Cattle Identification Agency (CCIA) as we continue in
our role as a world leader in animal identification and
efficient disease traceback. Industry-initiated and
industry-led, CCIA continues to enhance its database
and value-added features, as well as moving towards
full animal movement with our commitment to Radio
Frequency Identification (RFID) technology and
Premises Identification.
As of January 2005, CCIA bar-coded tags were no longer
manufactured, and were no longer eligible for sale in
Canada as of July 1st, that year. Since September 1st,
2006, CCIA has recommended that all cattle leaving
their herd of origin be tagged with a CCIA-approved
Radio Frequency Identification Tag (RFID). The CCIA
Board of Directors is assisting with the transition to RFID
by continuing to recognize purchased bar-coded tags on
mature breeding stock and bulls until no later than
December, 2009. Currently, there are six CCIAapproved
RFID tags all of which have met extensive
field and laboratory trials. CCIA continues to encourage
tag manufactures to submit a variety of RFID tags to
trial. These trials are ongoing and continuously
produce consistent results.
CCIA is also moving towards Animal Movement
Tracking and ensuring Canadian Livestock Traceability
System information is populated and validated within
the CLTS. Producers are encouraged to enter their
Legal Land Description into their CLTS account. Once
this information is entered, a Premise ID number will be
issued along with a Producer Card that will include all
relevant information on it. It is the hope of CCIA that
these Producer Cards will make the system more efficient
by enabling tag dealers to quickly and easily assign tags
to a producer in the system.
Age Verification (AV) continues to be an important
value-added initiative and we welcome the opportunity
to work directly with OCA and to focus our joint efforts
in Ontario. The voluntary AV program allows producers
to enter birth date information and print CFIA-approved
birth certificates for shipping to domestic and export
markets. Producers who have the inability to upload
events within the CLTS database but still want to take
part in the Age Verification program can use a
third-party delegate to submit data on their behalf.
Moving forward, CCIA remains dedicated to working
with our partners in new and ongoing value-added
initiatives for the benefit of the Canadian cattle industry.
The Canadian Cattle Identification Agency is committed
to ensuring that all program components continue to meet
and exceed domestic and international requirements in
order to maintain our role as a world leader in Animal
Identification and Age Verification. |
