In 2005, the Animal Care Assessment program was launched as an independent, voluntary assessment tool for producers to promote and demonstrate responsible pork production that is validated by an outside party. The ACA provides a step-by-step guide for producers to complete a welfare assessment for their farms that can then be used to monitor, manage and document animal husbandry practices. The program, developed by a team of experts (including producers, producer organization representatives, animal care researchers and government officials), is administered by the Canadian Pork Council and delivered by provincial Canadian Quality Assurance (CQA) delivery agents. Since its inception, the ACA was destined to become part of the overall CQA program and beginning January 1, 2012, the ACA requirements will become an integral component of the CQA program. This means that producers will need to meet the requirements of the ACA to maintain their CQA status. ACA/CQA Integration Factsheet ACA Active Validator List (updated June 2011) Producers interested in becoming ACA registered can now complete a self assessment for their initial registration on the ACA program instead of having a validator conduct a Full ACA Validation. Producers who hold a valid Canadian Quality Assurance (CQA) registration can complete their ACA Producer Manual, fill out an ACA Program Self-Declaration Report, and then submit the completed Self-Declaration to Ontario Pork. ACA Program Self Declaration Report
All new and current ACA producers will maintain their registration through the following steps:
1. submitting the ACA Self-Declaration Report to Ontario Pork annually in conjunction with the CQA Partial Validation;
2. having an ACA validator complete a Full ACA Validation when the production facility is due for its next CQA Full Validation.
Copies of the ACA Producer Manual can be obtained from Ontario Pork or from the ACA website: http://www.cqa-aqc.ca/aca/index-e.php. For more information visit http://www.cqa-aqc.ca/aca/index-e.php