U.S. Swine Health Improvement Plan (SHIP)

U.S. Swine Health Improvement Plan is a nationwide project with support of state and industry partners. U.S. SHIP has received endorsements of support by the United States Animal Health Association, American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, National Pork Board, National Pork Producers Council, and the North American Meat Institute.

U.S. SHIP is the ASF-CSF monitored certification aiming to reduce the risk of disease introduction by providing a practical means of demonstrating evidence of freedom of disease (outside of foreign animal disease control areas) in support of ongoing interstate commerce and a path to resuming international trade after a trade-impacting disease response and recovery period. Specific goals of U.S. SHIP include:

  • Improve trade impacting disease (TID) preparedness in three aspects; prevention, response, and recovery among participating producers, slaughter facilities, and states by proactively establishing an industry-informed and working system of operations and certification based on well-defined program requirements for biosecurity, traceability, and disease surveillance.

  • Reduce the impact of high-impact endemic illnesses through advancing sanitary standards and practices that prevent disease spread in and across farms on a long-term basis.

  • Provide participants in the U.S. pork sector with hands-on experience planning and engaging in a "National Poultry Improvement Plan-style" program tailored to the needs of the U.S. pork industry.

The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry (ODAFF) will serve as the U.S. SHIP Official State Agency with program support assistance being provided by the Oklahoma Pork Council. See steps below to achieve your U.S. SHIP certification.

Visit the ODAFF website by clicking here.

Step 1. Enrollment

  1. Contact US SHIP Official State Agency (OSA) in which the participating premises is located.

  2. Enroll live swine production and slaughter facility premises with the US SHIP OSA in which the participating premises is located.

  3. Acknowledge understanding of and compliance with requirements for certification.

  4. Complete US SHIP Biosecurity Enrollment Survey.

Enrollment Documents:

Single Premise U.S. SHIP Enrollment Form

Multi Premises U.S. SHIP Enrollment Form (Part 1)

Multi Premises U.S. SHIP Enrollment Form (Part 2)

Email completed documents to Oklahoma Assistant State Veterinarian, Dr. Alicia Gorczyca-Southerland, at: Alicia.Gorczyca-Southerland@ag.ok.gov 


Step 2. Certification

  1. US SHIP OSA to contact US SHIP participant (Swine Owner) to initiate certification.

  2. US SHIP participants need to demonstrate competency in providing at least 30 days of movement information electronically in a common format (e.g., a prescribed CSV file) to the US SHIP OSA in a timely manner.

  3. US SHIP OSA confers certification.


Step 3. Maintenance of Certification

  1. Meet or exceed the requirements for the US SHIP certification(s) held.

    • Program Standards can be found here.

Key U.S. SHIP Enrollment Milestones for Oklahoma’s Pork Industry:

  • April 1st – Commercial pork producer enrollment begins 

  • July 1st – Commercial pork producer paperwork returned to ODAFF for certification

  • October 1st – Transitional swine enrollment begins (4-H, FFA, Niche) 

  • March 1st, 2023 – Transitional swine paperwork returned to ODAFF for certification

There will be a series of Secure Pork/U.S. SHIP educational webinars and outreach touchpoints throughout the next several months.

For any questions, please contact Dr. Alicia Gorczyca-Southerland, Assistant State Veterinarian at: Alicia.Gorczyca-Southerland@ag.ok.gov 

With your help, and by enrolling your facilities, we can promote better animal health together. Thank you for your commitment to advance our industry’s FAD preparedness!