In an effort to improve pre-harvest traceability and improve national disease surveillance in the pork industry, many major U.S. packers and processors will require a USDA-approved, official premises identification number (PIN) swine tag as a condition of sale for breeding stock beginning Jan. 1, 2015.
Once an animal is identified with an official PIN tag, it should not be removed or given a different official tag in the case of parity-segregated farms. Also, records documenting the identification and movement of breeding stock should be kept for three years.
![](https://www.pig333.com/3tres3_common/dist_nou/css/images/imb5.png)
When ordering tags, producers must provide the nationally standardized PIN for the breeding farm. If the site does not have a PIN, producers can register for one by going to www.pork.org/PINtag.
To date, packers that will require PIN tags as of January 2015 include: Johnsonville, Hillshire Brands, Calihan Pork Processors, Bob Evans Farms, Wampler's Farm Sausage, Pine Ridge Farms, Pioneer Packing Co., Pork King Packing and Abbyland Pork Pack.
Monday November 11, 2013/ National Pork Board/ United states.
http://www.pork.org/