September 10, 2013, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island: The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the Prince Edward Island Department of Agriculture and Forestry signed an information sharing agreement today that will make it easier to locate livestock in an emergency.

"The ability to zero in on an animal that may be sick or a risk to food safety is important to protecting consumers and animals," said Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. "Locating animals faster and more efficiently can help lessen the impact of these types of events at the farm-level."

"The Government of Prince Edward Island is very pleased to work with the federal government to develop a national traceability system for livestock and poultry," said Agriculture and Forestry Minister George Webster. "This system will provide valuable information to help emergency responders take precautionary measures to protect human and animal health."

The collection of traceability information is a joint responsibility between provincial and federal governments. Provinces have committed to collecting and verifying premises information and the federal government is leading on the collection of animal identification and movement reporting information. Sharing this information will provide governments with a comprehensive tracking system.

Traceability is the ability to follow an item or a group of items from one point in the supply chain to another. The focus of this initiative is farm-to-slaughter traceability of livestock. Access to this type of information could help protect human and animal health in the event of a food safety issue, natural disaster or animal disease outbreak.

This agreement supports the commitments made by federal, provincial and territorial ministers of agriculture to phase-in a National Agriculture and Food Traceability System, beginning with livestock and poultry. Similar agreements have been signed with Alberta and Manitoba.

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Media inquiries

Canadian Food Inspection Agency Media relations: 613-773-6600

Kim Devine PEI Department of Agriculture and Forestry kmdevine@gov.pe.ca 902-368-5286

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