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Audit Overload. Michelle Sprague, DVM AMVC Management Services msprague@amvcms.com (712) 563-2080. A veterinarian’s perspective. Animal welfare should not be used as a marketing tool Appropriate animal welfare standards are science-based and must be provided to all animals at all times
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Audit Overload Michelle Sprague, DVMAMVC Management Services msprague@amvcms.com (712) 563-2080
A veterinarian’s perspective • Animal welfare should not be used as a marketing tool • Appropriate animal welfare standards are science-based and must be provided to all animals at all times • Niche markets and “feel good” standards are NOT the same as animal welfare • Food safety standards are not negotiable
A new way of life • Most larger systems have their own internal animal welfare audit programs
Audit overload • Self-audits • Second party audits • Third party audits • Some farms in pools for multiple packers • Upper level management spends more time conducting audits than training and implementing appropriate protocols • Increased number of visits poses a biosecurity risk
Why do we need a standardized audit program? • Industry infrastructure • Some sow farms sell pigs that end up being marketed to every packer in the country • Being selected for multiple audits is very time consuming and skews the benchmarking database • Some farms “fall through the cracks” and do not get in an audit pool at all • Fewer farms “flying under the radar” increases transparency and credibility
Why do we need a standardized audit program? • Clarity • One set of standards provides definitive expectations for swine producers industry-wide • Efficiency • Fewer resources required to create, conduct, facilitate and record one audit per prescribed timeframe into universal database
Why do we need a standardized audit program? • Uniformity • Facilitates communication • Improved benchmarking • Consistency • Expectation management • More comprehensive producer support • Improved customer understanding
Criteria for a standardized audit • Animal welfare and food safety parameters • Broad scope • Credibility • Specific • Consistency • Concise • Practicality
NPB Industry Audit Task Force Objectives • Provide stakeholders with a consistent, reliable and verifiable system that assures on-farm animal well-being. • Eliminate duplication of audits and/or minimize the administrative burden placed on producers. • Develop consensus about consistent standards between and among various independent audit programs. PQA Plus could be the foundation standard with the possibility of company-specific addendums. • Create a standard process that results in inter- and intra- observer consistency and protection of herd health through biosecurity protocol.
Program progress • Much discussion and deliberation • List of common standards and criteria • Initial draft of an audit tool
Still need • Your support! • Broad-based support for this uniform set of standards and associated audit tool will facilitate implementation of a more efficient, consistent and credible program for the swine industry