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Pork industry leaders stress importance of identification

DES MOINES, Iowa - In the midst of a celebration of 14 consecutive record years of pork exports, there was a warning.

"How important is it for U.S. producers to get on board with animal ID and traceability?" was asked during a question-and-answer session. The session was conducted during a reception at the National Pork Board headquarters in Des Moines to mark 14 years of record exports for the U.S. pork industry.

"We put our exports at great risk in the face of an outbreak if we do not have a system in place," said John Caspers, an Iowa pork producer and past president of the National Pork Producers Council and a board member of the U.S. Meat Export Federation.

The U.S. swine industry has been adapting a swine industry system that has been in place since around 1998. That system, designed to assist in the eradication of pseudorabies, has been evolving over time to fit with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Animal Identification System or NAIS.

"It has evolved over time, and I think that you have to recognize that it will continue to evolve over time," said Bob Accord, chairman of the Swine Identification System Implementation Task Force, during a press conference at the recent World Pork Expo.

"To say that we have an animal ID system in place today that is going to be the same five years from now - no, it will not be. It will evolve over time as situations change."

The task force is made up of members from the National Pork Board, the National Pork Producers Council, breed registries, packers and individual producers.

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Source: Agri News

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