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New Animal ID and traceability regulations to include sheep and goats

Mar 23, 2017 | 1:38 PM

ARMSTRONG, BC –  Canada’s Health of Animals Act is about to see changes which  will strengthen regulations around animal identification and traceability.

Traceability systems are important, not only for the protection of  public health and food safety but, also for the protection of animal health. The changes are expected to be finalized in 2018 and will apply to more livestock groups, including cattle, sheep and goats among others. Pigs are already working under a full traceability system.

For the livestock industry, the new traceability regulations will improve their ability to protect farms and others in the value chain in the event of animal disease outbreaks.  Components of the new regulations could also help protect farms during environmental incidents.

While cattle producers are familiar with many of the identification rules, they may be new to others.  The new regulations will apply to all goat and sheep producers regardless of the size of the operation. More information can be found on the Canadian National Goat Federation  or the Canadian Sheep Federation websites.