USDA Update on Animal Disease Traceability - Mr. Neil Hammerschmidt, Manager, Animal Disease Traceability, USDA/APHIS/VS, from the 2013 NIAA Merging Values and Technology conference, April 15-17, 2013, Louisville, KY, USA. More presentations at http://www.trufflemedia.com/agmedia/conference/2013-niaa-merging-values-and-technology

1. Safeguarding Animal Health
● Tamper evident
● Imprinted with
 An official identification number
 Official eartag shield
• All tags manufactured after March
11, 2014
• All tags applied after March 11, 2015
• State postal abbreviation may be used
instead of “US” inside the shield
Applicable to tags purchased by the State from
approved tag manufacturers
Official Eartags
1

2. Safeguarding Animal Health
• National Uniform Eartagging System (NUES) Tags
- 9 characters (primarily used for cattle)
- Prefix: State/Tribe numeric or alpha code
Example: 35ABC4275 or WIXYZ1234
Official ID Numbers / Eartags
2

3. Safeguarding Animal Health
• National Uniform Eartagging System (NUES) Tags
- 8 characters (primarily used for species with smaller
ears)
- Prefix:
- State/Tribe numeric code for Swine, Cervids
- Example: 23BG0575
- State/Tribe alpha code for Sheep and Goats (scrapie tags)
- Example: WICA4275
3
Official ID Numbers / Eartags

4. Safeguarding Animal Health
• Animal Identification Number (AIN) Tags
- 15 characters with 840 as the first 3 digits
Example: 840 003 123 456 789
- USA and Mfr. code (900 series) prefixes
also official through a transition period
• Manufactured before March 11, 2014 and applied before
March 11, 2015
• Tags that meet this criteria are official for the life of the
animal
4
Note: AIN tags with the 840 and Mfr.
codes may contain a radio frequency
(electronic) transponder
Official ID Numbers / Eartags

5. Safeguarding Animal Health
• AIN Eartags with the USA prefix
- During the transition period eartags with USA plus 8 or
9 digits are also official
- Manufactured before March 11, 2014 and applied before March 11, 2015
5
Official ID Numbers / Eartags

6. Safeguarding Animal Health
• Location or Flock based numbering system
Scrapie tags
Example: MN38418 4605
6
Official ID Numbers / Eartags

7. Safeguarding Animal Health 7
2 3
4
5 6
1
Which Eartags are Official?
(Manufactured before March 11, 2014 and Applied Before March 11, 2015)

8. Safeguarding Animal Health
Which Eartags are Official?
(Manufactured before March 11, 2014 and Applied Before March 11, 2015)
8
1 2 3
4
5 6
1
Reusable
tags are not
official

9. Safeguarding Animal Health 9
Which Eartags will be Official if
applied after March 11, 2015?
1 2 3
4
5 6
1
1

10. Safeguarding Animal Health 10
Which Eartags will be Official if
applied after March 11, 2015?
2 3
4
5 6
1
AIN tags applied
after March 11,
2015 must have
the 840 prefix

11. Safeguarding Animal Health 11