CCIA announces changes to database

Friday, April 19, 2013

by DIANNE FETTERLY

The Canadian Cattle Identification Agency has made a few changes to the Canadian Livestock Tracking System in hopes of making it easier for beef producers to track animal movement, with the ultimate goal of containing and eradicating disease.

Beef producers in Ontario, as well as those in several other provinces and territories, must now acquire a provincial Premise Identification number (PID) from their local registry in order to have their premises included in the CLTS database. 

Even if farmers in these areas have used a Canadian Livestock Tracking System PID in the past, they must obtain a PID from their provincial or territorial premises identification registry And while there will be a grace period to allow producers to make the changes, eventually, the database will no longer accept PIDs that are not generated by the provinces. The new rules take effect on May 1, 2013, according to an April 5 press release.

“This change simplifies the process of submitting information to the CLTS database. It means producers are no longer required to register their premises in the CLTS database when reporting events. Each CLTS account holder will continue to have the option of linking a provincially/territorially-generated PID to his or her CLTS account when reporting animal movement events,” explained CCIA Communications Manager, Kori Maki-Adair via email.

It is important for producers to have a PID because a good, fully-functional traceability system requires not only an animal identification number, but a number relating to a particular physical location as well. With these two sources of information, the system is able to track movement, she explained.

“The CCIA encourages all producers and agri-businesses to obtain a PID by contacting the provincial /territorial premises identification registration,” she added.

In a separate press release, the CCIA announced a new tool to help producers report movement.

Funded by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada,  the National Premises Identification Look Up Tool  is “designed to facilitate movement reporting by livestock operators and agri-businesses, while maximizing trace-back data integrity by working with provinces and territories to ensure only valid PIDs are accepted into the database,” Maki-Adair explained.

Based in Calgary, the CCIA is a non-profit organization, set up by industry stakeholders to promote animal health and address safety concerns. BF