Sterling Solutions, LLC received USDA approval on January 7, 2004 to begin implementing their Process Verified Beef Source Identification and Traceability Program under the guidelines of USDA’s Process Verification Program. Granted this approval, Sterling Solutions is now a third party identification and traceability service provider to the beef industry. Developed by principals, John Morse, John Nalivka, and Russ Turner, the Sterling Solutions Beef Source Verification and Traceability Program was created in order to provide a practical, affordable system; one that works and will be accepted by the beef industry and consumers. Simply put, Sterling Solutions voluntary system for source verification will instill TRUST throughout the entire beef supply chain from the time a calf is born until the final beef product is presented to the consumer. Using appropriate technology, the program was developed using a systems approach throughout the entire beef supply chain. The ultimate goal: provide a complete solution for identification and trace back. The Sterling Solutions quality system provides traceability starting at the ranch or farm where the animal is born. The animal is “source verified” and then tracked through its’ entire life at each point in the beef supply chain. Identification is the means and traceability is the goal. “We are committed to that goal.” Development of the Sterling Solutions Program began in late 2002 and was audited by the USDA in order to comply with rigid quality control standards of the USDA Process Verification Program. To operate an approved USDA Process Verified Program, companies must submit documented quality management systems to the Livestock and Seed Program, Audit Review and Compliance (ARC) Branch and successfully pass an onsite audit according to ARC Instructions: • ARC 1000 Quality Systems Verification Program, General Polices and Procedures • ARC 1001 Process Verified Program (PVP) Sterling Solutions, LLC looks forward to providing a quality, third party, identification and traceability service to the beef industry. We firmly believe the Sterling Solutions Program meets the expectations of people like Lloyd Knight, Executive Vice President of the Idaho Cattle Association, who in an association magazine for members recently wrote, “ICA members at Sterling Solutions are leading the way in developing the leading private source verification program in the nation.” For more information on the Sterling Solutions program, contact John Morse at 406-683-5474, John Nalivka at 541-473-3266, or Susan Morse at 714-557-1979.