Veterinary - Swine ID & Importation

Swine ID Law

(a) No live swine shall be transported on a public road within the State unless the swine has an official form of identification approved by the State Veterinarian for this purpose.

(b) Any live swine that is transported on a public road within this State without identification as required by this section is presumed to be a feral swine and is also subject to regulation by the Wildlife Resources Commission under Chapter 113 of the General Statutes. Any person transporting a swine without identification is subject to a civil penalty under this Article.

(c) Swine that do not leave the premises of the swine owner are not subject to the identification requirement under this section.

(d) The Board of Agriculture shall adopt rules to charge any swine owner a fee for the identification required under this section. The fee may not exceed the actual cost to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for the identification approved by the State Veterinarian and any direct administrative costs associated with providing the identification to swine owners. The Board of Agriculture shall adopt any other rules necessary to implement this Article. (2011-326, s. 19.7; 2011-369, s. 1.)

§ 106-798. Identification required to transport swine

§ 106-798.1. Penalty for unlawful transport of swine without identification

§ 106-798.2. Penalty for misuse of identification

Swine Importation Regulations

Below is a summation of the North Carolina swine importation requirements.

  • An Interstate Certificate of Veterinary Inspection completed by a licensed and accredited veterinarian within 30 days.
  • Individual identification e.g., official ear tag, ear notching, 840 tags, tattoo, micro-chip (bring reader).

Breeding Swine (includes Pot Belly Pigs)

  • Must originate from Validated Brucellosis-Free herd or Free State.
  • Must originate from Qualified Pseudorabies-Negative herds or Pseudorabies Stage IV or Stage V Free State.
  • Breeding swine and all other swine being shipped to a breeding swine premise originating from Stage II, II/III or III areas or states must also be isolated and test negative to a statistical 95/5 sample test using a Pseudorabies serological approved between 30 and 60 days after arrival and before being added to the herd.

Feeder Swine

  • From PRV stage II, II/III, III state or area shall be accompanied by a permit within 30 days prior to entry.
  • Permit number and date of issuance shall be shown on the Interstate Certificate of Veterinary Inspection.
  • Feeder swine must have been vaccinated for PRV using a USDA-licensed PRV vaccine with g1 deletion and must have tested negative on a statistical (92/2) test within 30 days prior to shipment and they shall be isolated and quarantined until slaughtered.
  • Swine must be tested on statistical (95/2) test between 30 and 45 days after arrival.
  • Swine must originate from a Qualified Negative herd or a PRV monitored herd that has tested negative on as statistical (95/10) test within 30 days prior to shipment.

Direct to Slaughter or Slaughter Market

  • No Health certificate.
  • Swine from a PRV-QT herd or swine which have been in contact with PRV-QT swine may be imported into the state for immediate slaughter only under the following conditions: swine must be accompanied by a shipping permit (VS 1-27) consigning swine to slaughter, seal transport vehicle, and clean and disinfect vehicle after unloading the swine.

Healthy swine for feeding purposes may move directly from a farm of origin in a contiguous state to a livestock market or stockyard in North Carolina that is state-federal approved to handle feeder swine without a health certificate if they have resided on the premises of herd of origin for at least 30 days and the swine are accompanied by proof of Pseudorabies status of the herd of origin and the swine are inspected by state or federal employee or approved accredited veterinarian prior to market sales.