Posted April 22, 2010
People who become certified as Pork Quality Assurance (PQA) Plus® Advisors under the National Pork Board's PQA Plus® program are required to recertify every three years. That means those certified during the initial training period in 2007 need to complete a recertification training and testing session in 2010. The Iowa Pork Industry Center (IPIC) at Iowa State University (ISU) has planned four such recertification sessions in early June at three locations in Iowa.
James McKean, IPIC associate director and ISU Extension swine veterinarian, said all four sessions will be taught by ISU animal science and veterinary medicine faculty members who are certified PQA Plus® trainers.
“Each session is limited to 30 participants who must pre-register and pay the recertification fee of $50 per person prior to the session,” McKean said. “Pre-registration is required to ensure the new PQA Plus® materials will be available for each participant, so no walk-ins will be accepted.”
The sessions will be filled on a first received, first accepted basis, so people should submit their pre-registration and payment as soon as possible. The pre-registration form is available at http://www.ipic.iastate.edu/PQAPRecert.doc It also is available by fax by calling Jane Runneals at IPIC at (515) 294-4103.
The recertification session dates, times and locations are as follows.
* Wednesday, June 2, 8:30 a.m. to noon. Kildee Hall, Ensminger Room, Iowa State University, Ames
* Wednesday, June 2, 1 to 4:30 p.m. Kildee Hall, Ensminger Room, Iowa State University, Ames
* Thursday, June 3, 1 to 4:30 p.m., 603 West Park Street, Bldg C, Room C349, NW Iowa Community College, Sheldon
* Friday, June 4. 1 to 4:30 p.m.Marr Park, Hwy. 92, Ainsworth
PQA Plus was developed by the Pork Industry Animal Care Coalition to be a continuous improvement program. The coalition, made up of pork producers, packers/processors, restaurants and food retailers, dedicated itself to finding a food-industry solution that would give confidence to consumers that U.S. pork is produced in a way that respects animal well-being. PQA Plus merges the food safety and animal well-being concepts of the original PQA program into three steps: individual certification through education, farm site assessment and the opportunity for project verification that gives customer credibility. For more information on PQA Plus, contact the National Pork Board at (800) 456-PORK or go to http://pork.org/Producers/PQAP.aspx?c=PQAP.
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