The benefits of animal identification for food safety

The Center for Veterinary Medicine supports the effort to have a practical, workable form of mandatory animal identification. An animal identification system will make tracing of the source of animals with drug or chemical residues quicker and more effective. One of the best means of addressing and solving the problem of residues is through mandatory livestock identification. A successful traceback benefits both the producer and the industry. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has proposed a mandatory nationwide system to require that all swine in interstate commerce be identified. Under the proposal several means of identification are listed and could be used. Additional methods or devices could be requested in writing to USDA. Persons required to keep records under the system would maintain the documents at their place of business for 2 yr. Records would be available to authorized USDA employees during ordinary business hours. FDA has had difficulty tracing tissue residue violations, particularly those involving sulfamethazine residues in swine. Investigations involving culled dairy cows and veal calves also have been closed due to lack of producer identification. The ability for FDA to determine the source of residues is vitally important in a coordinated government program to eliminate illegal tissue residues.