Animal Disease Traceability is the ability to determine the path an animal took from its premise of origin to its final destination. Traceability is important in the case of a disease outbreak or contamination of meat with a toxic agent. It is also important since we are exporting more and more animal protein to foreign nations. Our trading partners want to know that the meat they purchase from the U.S. is safe. Being able to demonstrate that we can trace the source of a disease or residue is very important to them.