The Terrestrial Animal Health Code of the World Animal Health Organisation defines "performance criteria" as follows: "specifications for performance of a programme and are usually expressed in quantitative terms, such as all animals can be traced to the establishment of birth within 48 hours of an enquiry.
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The federal, provincial and territorial governments have identified the following national performance criteria for livestock and poultry traceability systems in order to rapidly and efficiently manage a sanitary issue or a natural disaster affecting or originating from a Canadian herd:
Within 48 hours of the relevant federal, provincial or territorial Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) Footnote 1 or competent authority Footnote 2 being notified Footnote 3 of a sanitary issue, a natural disaster, or in the prevention or preparedness of such an issue, it must be possible to:
- establish the location(s) Footnote 4 where a specified animal Footnote 5 has been kept during its life Footnote 6
- establish the location(s) from where animals at a given site were received
- establish a listing of all animals that have been kept on the same location as the specified animal at any stage during those animals' lives
- determine the current location of all animals that have been kept on the same site as the specified animal at any time during those animals' lives
- determine the identification number and movement history of all conveyances used to transport animals to and from a given location
- establish the location of a specified animal immediately prior to importation into Canada or the location of a specified animal immediately subsequent to exportation from Canada
- establish the location and date at which deceased animals were sent, transported, received and disposed of (both on- and off-site) and a listing of those animals if identified individually
The performance criteria will be used to measure the effectiveness of livestock traceability systems, whether they are mandatory or voluntary.