Domestic pork traceability system implemented from December 28
2017-05-22 13:48 | NS NEWS
The Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Livestock (Minister Dong-pil Lee, hereinafter referred to as ‘MAFRA’) announced on December 28 that pork traceability system will be implemented throughout all stages from breeding to slaughtering and processing and sales.
From October 2012, the pilot project was operated to correct or supplement problems. From December 28 onwards, the pork traceability system will be implemented from 1 year after the announcement of full revision of the Act on the Management of Cattle and Beef Traceability Management including pig and pork to the Act on Livestock Traceability Management of Cow and Beef (Dec. 27, 2013).
(Purpose of introduction) The pork traceability system records the transaction level information from breeding to sale in order to trace the history and to facilitate prompt action to figure out cause and to collect and dispose if necessary.
As a result, it is possible to grasp the migration route of pigs and information on the slaughtering date and slaughterhouse inspection results of poultry farms, domestic slaughterhouses, and poultry processing shops for all domestic pork are disclosed to consumers.
(Breeding stage) All farms nationwide must report their breeding status to the traceability system by the 5th of the following month as of the last day of each month. Whenever a pig is moved to another farm or shipped to a slaughterhouse, the farm ID no. (Entity ID number for breeding pig) must be labeled.
However, in the case of breeding pigs, it is possible to manage the history of each individual by giving the same reporting duty as registration at the time of moving the registered company considering its high economic value.
* In the case of pigs, breeding period is short and population is large, farm traceability based on farm ID no. is efficient considering manpower and budget efficiency rather than individual traceability.
* Farm ID no.: A 6-digit serial number assigned by the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Livestock Food for each livestock breeding facility that breeds traceability subject livestock.
(Slaughter phase) The slaughterhouse operator must identify the farm ID number of the pigs shipped to the slaughterhouse, issue the trace number of the farm through the traceability system and display the trace number on all slaughtered pig. And the slaughter result must also be reported daily.
It aims to figure out the migration route of pork quickly, to impose report obligation of slaughter result to the slaughterhouse operator and to manager trace information management of port in the distribution stage.
* Trace number: It is a number assigned to the livestock products to manage the history. It is composed of 12 digits with the breed type code (1) + farm ID no. (6) + serial number (5).
(Packing process and sales stage) When meat packing vendor or seller packs or sells port with trace number, the trace number must be labeled on the packing sheet or meat sales board together with the record and management of transaction details.
In addition, if a livestock subject to traceability is traded or packaged by a vendor with a certain size or more*, it is mandatory to make computer report. If such indication and record are not fulfilled, a fine or penalty of 5 million won will be imposed.
* Packing processing business (slaughterhouse, 5 or more employees) and meat seller operated at other food sales business (5 or more people, area over 50 ㎡)
(Consumption Stage) Consumers can check the trace history of pork by searching trace number (12 digit) labeled on food sales board or pork packing sheet through the smart phone application (secure shopping bag) or livestock traceability website (www.mtrace.go.kr).
In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is currently operating the ‘Trace Support Office (1577-2633)’ for real-time consultation with farmers, retailers and consumers related to livestock traceability system.
In the meantime, while domestic beef has used the individual ID no. and imported beef has used the import and distribution ID no., the ‘trace no.’ is unified on the packing in order to minimize confusion of consumers.
(Guidance supervision and penalties) In order to strengthen the effectiveness of the pork traceability system, sanction measures on violations are introduced. The monitoring on the violator of system implementation subject was strengthened by expanding the correction order, report and access inspection authority on the meat selling vendors to the mayor and governor.
* (Current) Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries → (Expansion) Current + Mayor and governor
If the fine of disposition of fine for distributors (more than twice a year) is confirmed, the information of the violators is disclosed (12 months) to the Internet homepages of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Korea Consumer Agency.
However, in order to adapt to and prepare for the newly introduced system at the distribution stage, penalty disposition of matters concerning the persons who handled the pork among packing process reporters and transaction reporters (port packing process and transaction report), and matters concerning transaction report of beef operator will be applied from June 28, 2015.
(Education and Public Relations) The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs is actively cooperating with related organizations and institutions in order to settle the pork traceability system in an early stage. It will continue to strengthen the education and promotion of farmers and distributors, and also plan to prevent illegal distribution such as sales of raw meat, and to secure transparency and early settlement of pork traceability system, and to jointly arrange joint guidance with agricultural product quality management agency.
(Expected effect) An official of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said that “Pork traceability system is an important opportunity for Korean pig industry to develop further.
The information on the production and release of the pig farm can be used to support the daily disinfection management and in case of livestock disease, the information can be used to contribute to the identification of the cause and the preventive measures minimizing the damage of the farmers. And it is possible to differentiate between domestic port and imported port through the traceability system, and it can enhance competitiveness of the domestic Korean pig industry. In addition, by recording and managing the transaction details in the trace number unit, it is expected to increase the transparency of the distribution channel and increase the consumption of domestic pork that can prevent false entry of country of origin or falsified sales.