AgCanada Helps Fund CLIA

OTTAWA - Jun 16/05 - SNS -- Agriculture Canada is making up to CDN $529,600 available to help cover the cost of setting up the Canadian Livestock Identification Agency's (CLIA) multi-species livestock tracking and tracing system.

Representing all of Canada's major livestock producer associations, CLIA's mandate is to provide multi-species livestock tracking and tracing services. Seven major livestock associations, along with the Canadian Meat Council and the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, are represented on the CLIA as voting Board members. Both AAFC and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) are ex-officio Board members, and all provinces and territories have been invited to be represented as ex-officio board members.

"CLIA's strategic vision is to establish an animal tracking system that will offer Canadian producers a significant competitive advantage, and make Canada the only country in the world with such a comprehensive integrated national system," said Keith Flaman of Holstein Canada, President of the CLIA Board.

The Canadian Livestock Identification Agency (CLIA) was created as part of the initiative announced by the Government of Canada in January 2004, when $92 million was made available to enhance livestock identification, tracking, and tracing.

The vision of the CLIA is to provide national multi-species tracking and tracing which will allow Canada to quickly respond to any major animal disease or food safety issues. The Canadian approach could be a significant competitive advantage as Canada would be the only country in the world with such a comprehensive integrated national system.

At the present time, the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency (CCIA, established in 1998, manages information on the tracking of beef and dairy cattle, sheep and bison, in most provinces in Canada except for Quebec where Agri-Tracabilite Quebec (ATQ) manages the same information.

The founding members of the CLIA are:- Canadian Bison Association- Canadian Cattle Identification Agency- Canadian National Goat Federation- Canadian Pork Council- Canadian Sheep Federation- Equine Canada- National Livestock Identification for Dairy

The CLIA Board of Directors includes representatives from the founding organizations as voting members.

The Board also includes the Canadian Meat Council and Canadian Veterinary Medical Association as voting associate members; and Agri-Tracabilite Quebec, Canadian Animal Health Coalition, and Can-Trace as non-voting associate members. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency sit as ex-officio non-voting members. In addition, all provinces and territories have been invited to become members.

The General Manager of the new agency is Michael Dexter. He has extensive agricultural experience. He played a key role on the Canadian Pork Council Traceability Committee in developing a consensus on the use of cadastral boundaries for hog livestock premises. He was also responsible for foreign animal disease preparedness activities at the Manitoba Pork Council.