Attachment_2_SPECS METAL EARTAGS.pdf

Attachment 2 – Metal Tag Specifications Page 1 of 3 2/09/2023 12639518R0020

ATTACHMENT 2 - SPECIFICATIONS FOR METAL ALPHANUMERIC SERIAL EARTAGS

1. General:

The eartags shall be tamper evident and small enough and light enough for a sheep or goat of any age. Only tags approved by APHIS as official sheep and goat tags will be awarded. For tags that are not currently approved, an acceptable application for approval must be submitted before the closing date of the solicitation. The application must be clearly marked as a response to this solicitation and be emailed to traceability@usda.gov and copied to scrapie@usda.gov. Tag approval application instructions are available at Animal Disease Traceability (usda.gov). Contractors must also comply with the requirements for sheep and goat tag manufacturers in Title 9 Code of Federal Regulations part 79.2 (k). If an applicant is not already an approved sheep and goat tag manufacturer, they must sign an agreement with APHIS agreeing to comply with these requirements. If a tag is not already approved for use in sheep and goats or has not been approved to be produced with the required serial tag print format, 5 orange and 5 medium Slaughter Only blue tag samples printed as required for official serial tags (as described below) must be submitted for review to Melanie Rouse, Unit 43, 4B02.29, 4700 River Rd., Riverdale MD, 21737 to arrive before the closing date of the solicitation.

The Contractor shall agree to (a) only send official eartags to the address provided for the order in the Animal Identification Management System or a successor system or as directed in writing by APHIS; (b) when requested provide a monthly report of all tags produced and sent to a State including the tag sequences produced and the address to which the tags were shipped; (c) use only the letter and/or number sequences designated by APHIS on official tags; (d) use the Government shield only on official tags; (e) maintain the confidentiality of all information provided by APHIS or accessed through the APHIS website; and (f) report the total cost of the contract by month using order date within one week of the end of each month and by week when requested. Tag order information will be entered by the tag company through an APHIS web page into an APHIS database unless electronic messaging is mutually agreed to. The current web application is the Animal Identification Management System.

Preference may be given to tags for which successful long-term use in sheep and goats can be demonstrated or for which long term retention data demonstrating a high level of retention is provided.

If tags do not demonstrate adequate retention, legibility, and durability in field use, or if any of these requirements or the requirements to remain an approved scrapie program tag manufacturer or AIN manager are not met by the Contractor, the contract may be terminated.

Tags will be shipped to the addresses provided through the AIMS web page or as directed by APHIS as specified in the delivery order. The minimum delivery order will be 20 tags or 1 applicator. Tags must be shipped within 15 business days of receipt of the order in AIMS. Shipping method must on average result in delivery within 20 business days of receipt of the order in AIMS if the shipment is within the continental US. Information in AIMS must accurately reflect the tags shipped. Tags may mailto:traceability@usda.gov mailto:scrapie@usda.gov https://www.aphis.usda.gov/traceability/downloads/adt-general-standards.pdf https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-9/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-79/section-79.2#p-79.2(k)

Attachment 2 – Metal Tag Specifications Page 2 of 3 2/09/2023 not be shipped until they are shown as fulfilled in AIMS. Note: this process should be completed before tag manufacture to validate that the numbers have not been previously issued. Any tag wastage occurring as a result of not following this guidance will not be compensated.

In addition to steel tags, offerors may offer tags made from aluminum or other nontoxic metals that meet the requirements for approval as an official sheep and goat eartag.

2. Metal and Paint Specifications for Steel Tags:

The eartag shall be made of SAE 1008 nickel-zinc plated steel with a minimum coating thickness per side of 0.0002 inches with a plain finish or be made of stainless steel. The thickness of the metal shall be a minimum of 0.030 inches. Manufacturer shall provide a certified statement regarding the type of metal, coating, and the type of paint to be used and documentation of third party evaluation certifying that the metal provides a minimum 75 hours of protection in a salt spray test against red dust as per ASTM-Bb117 Specifications. Metal tags must be free of lead and other toxic substances.

The steel shall not break or crack upon closure of the eartag. The tags shall have a number 5 slit edge with no burrs to prevent cutting or chafing of the applicator’s fingers or irritation to the animal’s ear.

The width of the tag shall be a minimum of 5/16 of an inch. The end of side 2 shall be rounded, not squared. The edges of the tag shall be parallel to each other. Tags shall be painted with baked-on enamel or plastic coat. Tags must be provided in bright orange with regular serial tag print format or medium blue with “MEAT” tag print format as specified in the order. The paint shall not contain lead or other toxic substances. The paint shall not mar during the application process.

3. Closure Specifications:

The tags shall be of self-piercing and self-locking tamper evident or resistant design. The tag shall have a sharpened rib embossed tip (side 3) that will penetrate the animal’s ear during the process of closing. Side 3 shall lock/curl under the slit or bar on side 2 and shall not protrude more than 1/32 of an inch above the inside surface plane of side 2 after locking. The inside dimension height of the tag after closure shall be 1/4 to 5/16 of an inch at the locking end when measured at 90 degrees to the lock bar. The inside dimension length of the tag after closure shall be 15/16 to 1 1/4 inches. Side 1 shall not bend upon closure.

4. Quality Control:

The contractor shall adhere to their quality control plan.

Upon request of the Government, the Contractor shall provide a monthly report that shows the number of quality checks performed, when they were performed, and identify tags that were reworked or rejected. Contractor will also maintain a record of product returned and all complaints regarding tags provided under the contract and provide a monthly report of all such complaints.

Contractor will also immediately report any misprinted tags or defective tags or applicators that were shipped and any incorrectly shipped tags.

Attachment 2 – Metal Tag Specifications Page 3 of 3 2/09/2023

5. Packaging Specification:

Tags shall be packaged such that the tag numbers are maintained in sequential order. Tag order must be maintained during normal handling; for example, tags packaged on sticks must not fall off if the stick is inverted or dropped. The outer shipping boxes and individual boxes of 100 tags must be labeled and barcoded as required by APHIS to indicate the contract number, color of the tag, print format and number sequences in each box. The boxes of 100 tags must be packaged sequentially in the shipping box with the lowest number on the top, upper, left corner of the shipping box and the highest number on the bottom, lowest, right corner. Other options for organizing the tags within a shipping box may be proposed to better utilize the space while still keeping the 100 tag containers in sequential order.

The contractor must include tag use and application instructions provided by APHIS with each tag order.

6. Stamping Specifications:

For clarity, the following codes will be used to identify the side of the tag being described:

Side 1 – Flat Surface Side 2 – Flat surface with dimple for lock Side 3 – Self-piercing tip

The tags shall be stamped with an alphanumeric 8-character serial number and be consecutively numbered starting with the serial number provided by APHIS for each state. These are unique numbers and shall not be duplicated. The numbers and letters are assigned by State, and they will change from delivery order to delivery order. All 8 characters of the serial identification number shall be stamped on the outer surface of Side 1, between the radius of the curvature of the line (Side 3) and the radius of the curvature between Side 1 and Side 2.

All characters embedded (stamped) into the metal shall be aligned on the same plane with the top and bottom edges of the characters being parallel with each other or the first four characters may be one 1/32 of an inch smaller. The edge of the characters shall be at least 1/16 of an inch from the slit edge of Side 1. On the outer surface of all tags, the letters U.S. shall be enclosed in the Government shield on side 1. If it will not fit on side 1 it may be stamped on side 2.

All characters shall be Helvetica bold, 10 point, very large font lettering style. All characters are embedded (stamped) 0.25mm +1- 0.01mm into the metal. All characters shall be 2/16 to 3/16 of an inch high and a minimum of 8 characters per linear inch (8 characters per 1 inch.) There shall be a minimum of 0.04 of an inch space between characters. APHIS may approve alternate stamping that provides better readability.

For blue slaughter only tags, the letters MEAT shall be embedded in characters at least 1/8 of an inch and shall be located to the right of the U.S. shield on the outer surface of Side 2. These characters may be Helvetica 10 point, very large font, condensed positioned, as shown below:

US MEAT