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 ANIMAL
TRANSPORTATION
ASSOCIATION
29th International
Conference
April 6 - 9, 2003 -
Wyndham City Center Hotel - Washington,
D.C.
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Session 3 |
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Monday, April 7, 2003 – |
THE FUTURE OF ANIMAL IDENTIFICATION AND ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTATION
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Contact Information
Bio |
One
Step at a Time:
From Carbon Paper to Computerized to Electronic International Health
Certificates
Dr. Osmundo Castilla,
Staff Veterinarian with USDA, APHIS, VS, National Center for
Import/Export explained that the 17-140 form is the standard U.S.
Origin Health Certificate which is used to export all kinds of
animals from the U.S. including semen and embryos. It is a carbon
pack form that has been used for many years. There is movement now
to move away from the 17-140 form and to replace it with a
computerized form. This change can only be implemented as each
foreign country agrees to accept the revised form and as USDA
resources are available to convert the existing documents into
computerized format. |
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The next step,
and much further down the road, will be moving toward electronic
international health certificates – which are digitally signed by
the issuing veterinarian, transmitted electronically to the state’s
federal veterinarian’s office who verifies the digital signature and
test results, digitally signs and forwards the document
electronically to the importing country or wherever it needs to be
sent. He stated that they will be here in the future but few
countries are ready to accept them. Efforts are being made to have
the certificates accepted by other countries but many times the
inspectors at the borders or airports don't have access to the
electronically sent certificates. They are presented with an animal
(s) for import without documentation and a problem then exists. The
U.S. government can approve any of the forms because of the
Paperwork Reduction Act but the problem is acceptance. |
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“eTickets” for Animal Health Regulatory Management
Kevin Maher,
President of GlobalVetLink, L.C. (GVL) has pioneered the use of
electronic health certificates for interstate movement of animals in
the U.S. Their secured web-based platform launched in the State of
Florida in 1999 and has set a state of the art standard for animal
health regulatory management tools. This program was commercially
launched in September 2001 and provides:
· Official
Certificates of Veterinary Inspection (OCVI) for all species
·
EIA Coggins Certificates
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Diagnostic Lab Connectivity
·
For Sale – Pet Lemon Law
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Technical team support
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Remote Vet Assistant |
Contact Info
PowerPoint Presentation
Full Text
Presentation & Bio |
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From their
launch date to April 1, 2003, GVL has issued 8,319 EIA/Coggins
certificates, 8,856 For Sale certificates for dogs and cats, 5,001
OCVI certificates covering 135,006 head of cattle, horses, dogs &
cats which included 133,362 head of cattle alone. They have
exported to 48 U.S. states and 3 territories on 3,122 certificates
covering 126,166 animals.
Currently the
program has been used in Florida, California, Colorado, North
Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin. Minor changes are being incorporated
to make the system even more acceptable across a wide distribution
of users. eHealth Certificates will revolutionize Animal Air
Transportation in this decade; just as eTickets have for airlines.
This technology and all its applications are well adaptable to the
International transport of animals.
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Contact Info
Presentation
& Bio |
RFID’s: Radio Frequency Identification Devices
Barbara Masin,
Vice-President of Marketing with Electronic Identification Devices,
LTd (EID) who markets Trovan, explained the advantages of RFID’s
over traditional approached to animal identification such as
eartags, branding, leg rings, tattooing and clipped digits.
With RFID, you
have a means to ID an animal that is non-contact and
non-line-of-sight. Code can be read through hides, furs, feathers
and carapaces. It has been used for over 15 years in the U.S. in
the animal ID industry and has proven to be reliable. Tags have an
unlimited lifespan as the code does not degrade over time. With
implantable RFID (such as microchips) it is a permanent,
non-removable ID that allows automated data capture which eliminates
transcription errors. |
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RFID (radio
frequency identification) will be the wave of the future. Problems
have arisen because of not having a standard reader or a standard
tag. Without an industry standard, identification may not be
possible if your reader doesn't match the chip in the animal.
Europe has been working on the development of the RFID longer than
here in the U.S. and has worked out many of the problems of the
system. Use of RFID would allow for more positive identification
than most of the commonly used systems. If a standard system was
used, veterinarians at export and import centers and veterinarians
conducting tests in the field would be able to more easily and
accurately identify animals. The presentation went into detail on
how to select a microchip system, how a microchip is applied and
where it should be implanted in various species. It was noted that
transponders should be inserted on the animal’s left side where
applicable |
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A Panel Discussion:
Microchips – Their Differences, Similarities and Usage by Species
Next, attendees participated in a panel discussion with industry
experts representing the different microchip manufacturers as well
as different species. The panel provided a brief insight into how
microchips are used in their industry and what they see for the
future. All agreed that it is becoming a more widely accepted means
of identification globally and seen as a requirement in many
countries. It was also brought up that the supermarkets in the UK
do not accept microchips. The problem of migrating chips and the
problem of proper reading was discussed. In addition, it can be an
insurance problem when some animals have two chips.
Participants
included: Dr. Gary Weber,
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association /
Anna Melino, Rare
Imports/Exports / Michael Kuntz,
Merck & Co / Dr. Walter Woolf,
Air Animal, Inc / Dr. Dan Knox
& Kathleen Hwang with
AVID. |
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Dr. Gary Weber
….........Anna Melino…......…Michael Kuntz……...…Dr. Walter Woolf……......…Dr. Dan
Knox…….....….Kathleen Hwang |
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