The Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization (PAACO) announced that it will offer the first in a series of training courses beginning in October to certify auditors to conduct the Common Swine Industry Audit (CSIA).

The first two training sessions will be held at the University of Minnesota Southern Research and Outreach Center in Waseca, Minnesota, and are scheduled for October 25-27 and December 6-8, 2016. In conjunction with this training, PAACO will initiate a new on-line registration process, and a new web based training called Swine 201. While this training is a required prerequisite for those attending the onsite training, it is also available for anyone to take who wish to learn more about the pork industry or for continuing education credits.

PAACO Vice Chair Angela Baysinger, DVM, said, “The training represents an important opportunity for PAACO to help the pork industry respond to the high level of interest in training auditors and employees in the area of animal care and handling.”

The curriculum has been developed in conjunction swine and welfare experts from industry and academia along with support from the National Pork Board and National Pork Producers Council (NPPC). Trainers will include experts in Swine Handling and Welfare from industry, academia and PAACO.

Jan Archer, president of the National Pork Board, stated, “Producers understand that third-party auditing is one component of a comprehensive commitment they have made to building and maintaining the trust of pork chain partners and consumers. With PAACO auditor training, producers have added confidence that auditors visiting their farms are trained in a standardized way.”

NPPC Vice President of Industry Relations Dallas Hockman said, “The Common Swine Industry Audit serves as a great example of the total pork industry chain coming together to create a tool that helps deliver confidence to our customers. A big part of that confidence comes from the audit being PAACO certified. Our food chain partners support third party PAACO certified auditors.”

Registration will be open later in the week of September 19, 2016 and can be found at animalauditor.org. Class size is limited. Initial attendees will be those currently conducting or directing third party audits on swine farms.

Source: PAACO