Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, thank you on behalf of the Board and staff of the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency (CCIA) for the opportunity to testify today.
The CCIA is a federally incorporated, not for profit organization that was initiated by the Canadian cattle industry to establish a national individual animal traceback system for animal health and food safety in Canada. 
The origins of the CCIA can be found in the animal disease outbreaks of the 1980’s and early 1990’s; international events such as the outbreaks of Foot and Mouth Disease and BSE in other jurisdictions, and the management and eradication of Bovine Brucellosis and Tuberculosis domestically. Given our dependency on export markets, this emphasized the need to more effectively identify the cattle herd in Canada. 
Through the leadership and foresight of producers and industry leaders and willing partners in the federal government the CCIA was incorporated in 1998.
Conceptually the original cattle identifications system was designed to:
•	Increase domestic and international consumer confidence through the assurance of efficient animal trace back to ensure the containment and eradication of animal health issues and assist in the management of food safety concerns;
•	Maintain and increase market access by avoiding trade barriers imposed due to animal health issues and support industry by opening up new markets; and 
•	Remain competitive with not only other species but other countries that were focusing on developing animal ID and traceback programs.
As a result of this pro-active approach by our industry leaders and government, Canada was prepared to react effectively and efficiently to the emergence of BSE as an animal health issue in 2003.
As noted earlier, the Agency is a federally incorporated not-for-profit entity led by a Board of Directors made up of representatives from several sectors of the livestock industry. Though not a voting member of the Board, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has been an ex-officio representative on our Board of Directors since inception and has been an integral partner in the development and implementation of the program. Other government partners have been Agri-Food and Agriculture Canada (AAFC) and some provincial governments.
CCIA, as the national traceability administrator for the Canadian cattle and bison industry, manages, administers and develops policy for the national animal ID, tracking and traceback program. 
Included in these duties are the allocation of unique individual tag numbers from the national database, these unique tag numbers (animal ID) are required before an animal can move from the herd of origin and must be maintained to the point of export or carcass inspection. 
The CFIA is responsible for regulatory enforcement as defined within the Health of Animals Act. The CFIA also ensures that the National program meets the ever evolving animal health and food safety traceback requirements from both domestic and international perspectives. 
AAFC also works closely with the CCIA to ensure the funding requirements for important development and enhancement initiatives are met.
From a historical perspective the CCIA completed its initial voluntary implementation in 2001 and for less than $4 million. The mandatory enforcement by CFIA was phased in starting on July 1, 2002.
The effectiveness of the planned and phased in implementation has been very good. Based on international reviews of the traceback process following animal health issues, CCIA has been recognized as a world leader in animal identification and traceback
With a nation wide compliance rate of between 99-100%, the CCIA has implemented a sustainable identification program while maintaining and surpassing national standards
The CCIA’s repository (the Canadian Livestock Traceability System [CLTS]) houses the national ID and traceback systems for a variety of industry and species groups, including dairy, beef, bison, sheep, pork and poultry.
The CLTS is the core of cattle marketing programs in Canada as it is the source of information needed to provide international markets of credible data on the cattle they are importing.
For the Pork industry, the CCIA had previously developed the Western Slaughter Database for swine and is now working with this industry on the development and implementation of their own national traceability system.
Due to the emerging issue of avian influenza, the CCIA has worked with provincial groups in the poultry sector for the creation of Premises Identifiers to be used in their emergency planning system.  Recently there was an outbreak of avian influenza in British Columbia and with their robust emergency planning system, supported by Premises ID, the scope of the problem was effectively managed and the resulting cull was only 60,000 birds, not the tens of millions seen previously.
CCIA has been an active participant in the formation and maintenance of the Canadian animal identification system by creating national standards to provide direction and leadership on individual identification, technology, tag distribution, data reporting and auditing. As well as working directly with both industry and government partners, the CCIA has implemented a system that is practical and fully supported by the Canadian cattle industry and other sectors.
On an ongoing basis the CCIA assists the CFIA in any animal health or food safety related investigations in Canada, which have been an integral part in all BSE investigations. The system provides invaluable and timely tag inventory, tag history, retirement data from the packing plants and exports, and the activity of all herds involved. In the follow-up reviews to the 2003 BSE investigations, the international review committee was very complimentary of the effectiveness of the Canadian traceback system.
During negotiations with Japan for the re-opening of their market to Canadian beef exports, a key factor was the existence and credibility of the Canadian animal identification system.  Supported by the system Canadian access to an increasing number of international markets is occurring, with recent market agreements in the Middle East an example of this.
From the perspective of being a “partner” in external traceability systems, CCIA has also had an effective and collaborative relationship in coordinating efforts with the Wisconsin Livestock ID Consortium for system development to meet their state’s needs.
With a proven successful industry/government partnership that has endured and grown, the CCIA is poised to leverage on its past and current success with animal identification and grow the potential for full Canadian livestock and poultry traceability 
A key concern that everyone in our societies has is the issue of security of their personal information – it is a concern that is raised constantly and from the perspective of CCIA, it is a requirement imposed by privacy legislation. 
All personal information associated with each tag number is securely maintained within the national database and is only accessed by authorized personnel in the event of an animal health issue. 
Releases of information needed for the handling of such matters as stray animal searches and for the enabling of value-added information sharing is performed with the appropriate consents.
From a structural and procedural basis, the CCIA assists producers and other industry participants meet their regulatory reporting requirements to governments, federal and provincial, through controlled access based on defined protocols.  
With the emergence of commercially driven, value-added programs, the development of industry consent-based information-sharing protocols has also been implemented, that is to say that if a producer and someone else in the value-chain wish to share defined information they can have that information flow facilitated by the system.  However, I would emphasize that all the participants must agree to this and define the terms of what they are willing to share.
As with all technology-based systems, the CCIA has continued to enhance the functionality of the animal identification program through ongoing system enhancements, including a complete upgrade in 2006 to facilitate the migration from bar code tags to Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology tags. It has also implemented components to support:
•	Various value added and post-BSE initiatives such as Age Verification; and
•	The implementation of Premises Identification Numbers to support emergency planning and enable movement reporting.
The use of Age Verification, the ability to associate an animal birth date with a unique animal identification number, has been a key evolution. To address the ever increasing demands from our international trading partners for livestock products with specific requirements accurate age determination for Canadian cattle is a necessity. 
In order to ensure the industry could maintain its market access, the CCIA implemented changes to the CLTS that provide an effective and internationally recognized validation and age verification process. This functionality enables producers to submit information to meet regulatory requirements (Alberta and Quebec) or commercial interests in a recognized national database and have it readily available when it is required by either domestic or export markets.
The transition from the original bar code tags to Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology officially began on January 1, 2005. The bar coded tags were no longer eligible for sale in Canada as of July 1, 2005, and as of September 1, 2006 producers were no longer allowed to tag anything but mature breeding stock with the bar code tags. The transition will be complete as of December 31, 2009, with all cattle leaving their farm of origin being mandated as requiring a CCIA approved RFID tag.
From a commercial perspective, the evolution from bar codes to RFID has been moving faster than this timeline, with many feedlots and other commercial entities (e.g. dairies and feedlots) using the unique animal RFID tag number as a critical component in their business systems to monitor feed, health, production, and other factors.
The implementation of RFID technology has provided many benefits including:
•	Providing accurate and efficient trace back information more efficiently;
•	Allowing for the electronic reading of numbers without the line of sight and legible bar code required for an optically based system;
•	Ensuring Canada has an accurate and comprehensive age verification system; and 
•	Providing the necessary basis for full animal movement tracking at the speed of commerce.
In conjunction with national standards, the CCIA’s standards for RFID tags ensure visual, mechanical, physical, electrical and environmental quality, additionally they are also tested to make sure they cause no undue welfare concerns to an animal. The CCIA also verifies associated technology such as readers to ensure that they meet all standards for readability.
As the CCIA continues to enhance the current system it provides an increasingly efficient platform to collect essential animal identification related data and other attribute information that has both regulatory and commercial utility. The use of the data supports a variety of applications, which includes the:
•	Transition to RFID tags;
•	Previously referenced implementation of age verification; 
•	 Premise Identification registration facilitates tracebacks and movement tracking, whether it is a Group or Lot approach (pork and sheep), individual animal sighting; or unique animal movement (cattle and pork breeding animals), animal health zone controls, and disaster planning / recovery; and
•	Value-Added commercial programs, either for mass-marketed approaches or local niche markets.
In preparing for this hearing it was identified that there was interest in learning what had worked and what has not been as successful. I will attempt to share some of my learnings and that of my organization.
Given that technology is described as the key to the success of the system, it is fair to say that it can also be its Achilles heel. By this I mean that the system can be incredibly efficient when all sectors have a high level of technological infrastructure, but when that infrastructure is not as robust (e.g. dial-up or not Internet vs. high-speed / broadband) a single solution or approach is not always attainable or viable. 
This is a key factor for developing the tools and techniques for data collection, distribution, and also the structure for the education and training required to support producers and other industry participants.  Failure to address the capture methods issue and education aspects can have significant impact on overall credibility of the system.
Another key area is the base level technology, that of the RFID tag and the factors affecting its retention and readability. This component is one that is subject to an incredible range of environmental and climatic factors in Canada and testing and product improvement and producer education are vital to addressing concerns. 
With respect to addressing key technology factors or other system-related issues, CCIA is moving to continuous improvement practices to address the technological and engineering factors, while using these practices to identify key educational issues for the industry and how to best deliver the training.
Underlying this is the reality that there is no “one size fits all” approach to a national traceability system in a country as large and diverse as Canada and we will use a collaborative and open approach to working with industry, the business sector, and government to address the issues and deploy the right tools for the getting the job done.
In June 2006, recognizing industry's leadership and foresight in building the foundation for livestock traceability, Federal/Provincial/Territorial (FPT) Ministers committed to phasing in a National Agriculture and Food Traceability System (NAFTS), beginning with livestock and poultry. Four sectors have been prioritized: cattle, sheep, hogs and poultry.
In August 2006, an Industry-Government Advisory Committee was established to lead the development and implementation of the national traceability system for the livestock and poultry components of NAFTS. IGAC is the current forum for industry and governments to collaborate on traceability
The need for this approach will become even more evident as we advance down the path to a full multi-species traceability system.  Having a flexible and collaborative organization and system will be the only way that we will achieve a vision that embraces the full continuum of traceability from the farm gate to the consumer’s plate. 
The integration of multiple complex data systems, while protecting the personal privacy of individuals will necessitate innovative solutions and extensive collaboration between a large number of parties.
As you can imagine, communications is a crucial factor in the success or failure of a national identification system.  No one party can make it a success or result in its failure – it is dependent on the resources and participation of all industry sectors, organizations and government to ensure industry and all stakeholders are informed and able to support and use the program and understand its future potential.
Multi-year campaigns utilizing standard themes in various communications tools, such as brochures, advertisements, educational forums, presentations, websites, posters and media kits, are needed to ensure that the CCIA effectively communicates key messages about the program.
The path to the future that the CCIA has committed to is one that continues to:
•	Meet and strives to set performance levels that exceed domestic and international requirements for animal identification, tracking and traceability;
•	Improve Canada’s overall animal health emergency response capabilities; 
•	Enhance all aspects of data integrity and quality control;
•	Define and implement all necessary technological and database enhancements;
•	Ensure a cost-effective, efficient and long term sustainable program for sectors of the livestock and poultry industries;
•	Support to our industry partners in their efforts to engage and educate the consumer as well to assure them of food safety and the quality of Canadian meat; and
•	Work with our trading partners in an effort to achieve international standardization and increase the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of all livestock identification and traceability programs.
The animal identification program was initially mandated as a joint venture between industry and the Federal Government to meet the basic animal health and food safety traceback requirements.  This partnership continues to be very strong and productive and one that is expanding to include provincial governments and an ever-expanding range of industry sectors.
The evolution of the relationships and the collaborative development of the necessary tools are seen as the most effective way forward and pave the way for the effective and efficient use of the system for all stakeholders.
Thank you for your invitation to meet with you and the time to speak to you today.