Premises identification is the assignment of a unique identification number to a parcel of land where livestock or poultry are located at any time. Premises identification is a way of linking livestock and poultry to geographic locations.
Premises identification is a key component of the Canadian swine traceability system; the other two are animal identification and movement recording.
In the event of a food safety issue, a feed contamination issue or a foreign animal disease issue, being able to link an issue to a premises gives animal health officials and food safety officials better tools to do their investigation and greatly improves response time. Improving response time minimizes the effects of a crisis, which in turn reduces the economic impact and definitely saves dollars for industry but also saves dollars for the tax payer.
It is important to note that premises identification is also a quick and simple way to continue with a healthy herd status in the event that your premises is not involved.
Any person who houses livestock or poultry should register their premises. Premises identification is just as important to small, backyard producers as it is to large corporations.
Swine premises include:
You will need to know your premises identification in the event that you need to deal with animal health officials or food safety officials.
It is beneficial to have your premises identification number close when ordering tags from PigTrace Canada.
Most importantly, from a swine traceability perspective, it is crucial to ensure that your premises identification number is correct when entering movements into the national database.
For information on where to obtain a premises identification number, please contact your provincial pork organization. They will be the best source of information on premises identification in your province.