Wildlife and People

NAIS is NOT dead!

by Julie Kay Smithson, Property Rights Research [here, here]

No one should be breathing a sigh of relief that the “National Animal Identification System,” or “NAIS,” is dead. It becomes immediately clear, when reading the “Factsheet” below the news release, that the language deception has simply been ramped up a couple of notches. The “840″ “country code” — which is an INTERNATIONAL identification code — remains firmly in place. RFID tags are still the preferred way. The information already gathered will NOT be deleted or removed. There is no mention whatsoever of giving up on the original intent or its tentacles. Notice that there is no contact information for a USDA spokesperson. Whoever said “There’s a sucker born every minute” is alive and working for the USDA.

Note: bold areas below are my emphasis added.

USDA Announces New Framework for Animal Disease Traceability [here]

Release No. 0053.10, February 5, 2010

Washington, D.C., February 5, 2010 - Agriculture Secretary Vilsack announced today that USDA will develop a new, flexible framework for animal disease traceability in the United States, and undertake several other actions to further strengthen its disease prevention and response capabilities.

“After concluding our listening tour on the National Animal Identification System in 15 cities across the country, receiving thousands of comments from the public and input from States, Tribal Nations, industry groups, and representatives for small and organic farmers, it is apparent that a new strategy for animal disease traceability is needed,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “I’ve decided to revise the prior policy and offer a new approach to animal disease traceability with changes that respond directly to the feedback we heard.”

The framework, announced today at the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) Mid-Year meeting, provides the basic tenets of an improved animal disease traceability capability in the United States. USDA’s efforts will:

* Only apply to animals moved in interstate commerce;
* Be administered by the States and Tribal Nations to provide more flexibility;
* Encourage the use of lower-cost technology; and
* Be implemented transparently through federal regulations and the full rulemaking process.

“One of my main goals for this new approach is to build a collaborative process for shaping and implementing our framework for animal disease traceability,” said Vilsack. “We are committed to working in partnership with States, Tribal Nations and industry in the coming months to address many of the details of this framework, and giving ample opportunity for farmers and ranchers and the public to provide us with continued input through this process.”

One of USDA’s first steps will be to convene a forum with animal health leaders for the States and Tribal Nations to initiate a dialogue about the possible ways of achieving the flexible, coordinated approach to animal disease traceability we envision. Additionally, USDA will be revamping the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Animal Health to address specific issues, such as confidentiality and liability.

Although USDA has a robust system in place to protect U.S. agriculture, with today’s announcement, the Department will also be taking several additional actions to further strengthen protections against the entry and spread of disease. These steps will include accelerating actions to lessen the risk from diseases — such as tuberculosis — posed by imported animals, initiating and updating analyses on how animal diseases travel into the country, improving response capabilities, and focusing on greater collaboration and analyses with States and industry on potential disease risk overall.

More information on USDA’s new direction on animal traceability and the steps to improve disease prevention and control is available [here]

More details:

Questions and Answers: New Animal Disease Traceability Framework (7 pages; 56.12 KB) [here]

APHIS Veterinary Services Factsheet, February 2010

Excerpts:

“Considering the significant investment of taxpayer money, it would be irresponsible to completely disregard all elements of NAIS. We must be fiscally responsible and use and adapt as much of the investment from NAIS as is practical. …

USDA will also re-establish a Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Animal Health with representatives from States, Tribal Nations, industry groups, local farms, organic farmers, and underserved communities to assist us in evaluating commodity-based animal disease traceability approaches, as well as State-by-State and Tribe-by-Tribe animal disease traceability efforts. …

The system will not be mandatory in the sense that all producers are required to participate or that all States and Tribal Nations must implement one approach. …

The new approach also places producers who do not move their animals in interstate commerce outside the scope of the Federal animal disease traceability system. …

USDA will still require the use of official identification and location identifiers from the national allocator for program diseases. The 840 radio frequency (electronic) tag will be considered as a first choice, due to ease of testing and recording/reporting information. …

USDA understands that the confidentiality of producer information is a foremost concern. USDA believes that producer information gathered through animal disease traceability efforts is exempt from provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. USDA also intends to continue to work with stakeholders and Congress to thoroughly consider this issue.”

Additional related news articles:

The USDA will be scrapping its national animal identification system for livestock [here]

USDA Ends National Animal ID Program [here]