Canadian Traceability

National Agriculture and Food Traceability System (NAFTS)

The vision is for a secure National Agriculture and Food Traceability System (NAFTS) to better serve citizens, industry and government. The system will provide timely, accurate and relevant traceability information to enhance emergency management, market access, industry competitiveness and consumer confidence.

Recognizing industry's leadership and foresight in building the foundation for animal traceability, in 2006, federal, provincial and territorial agriculture ministers committed to phasing-in a NAFTS, beginning with livestock and poultry.

Traceability is the ability to follow an item or group of items – be it animal, plant, food product or ingredient – from one point in the supply chain to another. A national livestock traceability system is based on three pillars: animal identification; premises identification; and animal movement.

An Industry-Government Advisory Committee (IGAC) was established to lead the development and implementation of the livestock and poultry components of a NAFTS. The IGAC is comprised of 22 industry members and another 15 representing federal, provincial and territorial governments.

Many livestock sectors have solid foundations for traceability. For example, animal identification is already mandatory in the cattle, bison and sheep sectors, and is regulated by the federal government; other sectors, such as swine and poultry, have independently developed systems for collecting traceability information.

Industry and governments recognize the challenges associated with building a national traceability system, such as costs, confidentiality, liability and compliance, but they are committed to working together through IGAC to address these challenges.

More information

For more information on the NAFTS, contact an IGAC representative through your industry association, your provincial government, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada or the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.