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Opinions of those in the cattle, swine, and sheep slaughtering and rendering sectors were characterized regarding aspects of the National Animal Identification System. Across plants of all size categories, operators of 51, 46, 65, and 22% of cattle, swine, and sheep slaughtering and rendering plants, respectively, said they would now, voluntarily, submit animal termination records (ATR). By size category, however, too few operators of large cattle and swine slaughtering and rendering plants are willing to do so. There are preconditions that might make slaughtering and rendering plant operators more willing to voluntarily submit ATR; 79 to 88% would do so if radio frequency identification devices (cattle and sheep) and slap-tattoo or premises identification numbers (swine) were made mandatory. Only 22, 29, 29, and 14% of cattle, swine, and sheep slaughtering and rendering plant operators, respectively, would voluntarily pay a private database provider a fee to protect ATR data from the Freedom of Information Act, and 53, 25, 31, and 57%, respectively, of plant operators would—if ATR submission were made mandatory—send their ATR data through a private database provider if the fees were paid by the government. Support for mandatory animal identification (which would include submission of ATR) across small-, medium-, and large-sized plant categories was 47 to 80, 25 to 43, 25 to 100, and 100% for cattle, swine, and sheep slaughtering and rendering plant operators, respectively, if industry had to pay for it, but increased to 65 to 90, 64 to 75, 50 to 100, and 100% if the government would pay for it.

The threat of a livestock disease outbreak or other animal health events in North America is real. However, predicting both the timing and severity of an outbreak can be extremely difficult. Animal identification and traceability programs can help limit the spread of disease. The overall objective of this review is to evaluate and compare animal identification and traceability systems in North America. Mandated animal identification programs, which exist for Canadian cattle and sheep and Mexican cattle, are designed to control and eradicate trade-limiting diseases and to maintain or gain access to international markets. In contrast, the United States has chosen to implement the National Animal Identification System as a voluntary program for cattle, sheep, and swine. However, the US sheep industry has operated with a mandatory National Scrapie Eradication Program since 2001, and the US pork industry has independently implemented a mandatory swine premises registry, which targeted 100% compliance by December 31, 2007, and a mandatory swine identification program targeting full compliance by December 31, 2008. Likewise, the Canadian National Hog Traceability and Identification System will become a mandatory program in 2008. It is recognized that a country’s ability to respond to an animal disease outbreak is greatly enhanced with the implementation of a national animal identification program.

Animal diseases and related food safety issues, such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, have become concerns to many people in the last decade. With approximately one billion domesticated swine in the world, traceability is becoming increasingly important throughout the world as a way to control disease outbreaks before they have devastating effects on a country’s livestock and related livestock industries. The objective of this review is to discuss swine identification and traceability systems outside North America. Some countries, such as those in the European Union, have mandatory traceability programs that require that pigs be traced from birth to slaughter and that imported products to adhere to the same standard. Countries with mandatory swine traceability programs have systems in place that can document animal movement records (premises changes), as well as animal birth and termination records. Many countries that have voluntary programs, such as Australia and Brazil, are currently trying to develop comprehensive traceability programs for swine and pork.

Animal identification by means of marking animals’ bodies was first recorded 3,800 yr ago in the Code of Hammurabi, and throughout history, valuable animals such as horses have been identified to prevent thievery all over the world. Today, the reasons for identification of livestock include production management, control of disease outbreaks, establishment of ownership, requirements for export, and consumer demands. Additionally, there are many methods of animal identification and traceability available today including ear tags, tattooing, branding, electronic methods that implement radio frequency identification technologies (such as rumen boluses, ear tags, and injectable transponders), and biometric methods (such as retinal scanning, nose prints, and DNA). The objective of this review is to demonstrate the implementation of bovine animal identification and traceability systems in selected countries outside of North America (i.e., United States, Canada, and Mexico) for the purpose of creating a knowledge base whereby an effective North American bovine animal identification and traceability system may be created and implemented. This review will discuss regulatory requirements of animal identification and traceability in selected countries.