PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release - December 29, 2005

USDA Privatizes National Animal ID System Movement Tracking Database

A decision by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to have a private entity track animal movements in the National Animal Identification System (NAIS), announced by Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns on Aug. 30, 2005, represents a significant change from the original NAIS plan which had the federal government responsible for animal tracking and has sparked controversy within the livestock industry. The NAIS, a national program intended to individually identify livestock and track their movements, is under development by USDA and state agencies in cooperation with industry. Tracking animal movement is essential to the NAIS to enable 48-hour trace-back of any animal when there is a risk it has been exposed to a disease of concern. Rapid trace-back will facilitate prompt disease containment and maximize protection of America's livestock.

To meet NAIS objectives, USDA only needs four pieces of information from the movement tracking database: the animal's ID number, the date the animal was moved, the premises ID of the site to which the animal was moved and an "event code" describing the situation or place where the animal was sighted. Many small and mid-sized cattle operations, however, also want to utilize the NAIS movement tracking database to trace herd management information, but they do not want to share their management data with the government. When a bill exempting any information collected for the NAIS from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) stalled in the House of Representatives, cattle industry leaders pressured the Secretary of Agriculture to privatize the movement tracking database. In turn, non-cattle species groups and the Livestock Marketing Association have voiced strong opposition to Secretary Johanns' decision to privatize the database, arguing the decision has made the NAIS into an unfunded federal mandate that would place the total cost of the NAIS on producers.

USDA has proposed that it have a "portal" leading to multiple movement tracking databases administered and funded either by species groups, e.g., breed registries or associations, or by commercial database providers. Individual states with existing laws that prohibit movement tracking data from being held privately could also apply to the USDA to track movement for livestock in their jurisdiction. The USDA portal would be used by animal health officials to access a movement database only when necessary. Any state or private database tracking animal movement must be able to meet USDA's requirement that animal movements be traceable within 48 hours of discovery of a "disease of concern." Certain state animal health officials and species group representatives have concerns regarding the timeliness, integrity and confidentiality of movement data held by the private sector and the potential costs to producers for reporting movements to a private database. They prefer the original plan in which USDA would administer and fund this NAIS function.

Currently, neither the potential cost to report movement nor the specifics of the proposed change regarding the movement tracking database are known. There are calls for USDA to conduct a cost/benefit analysis for a tracking database to provide a baseline for potential cost to producers. The US Animal Health Association Executive Committee intends to hold a face-to-face meeting with Secretary Johanns and representatives of stakeholders affected by the NAIS early in 2006 to discuss these issues.

Other aspects of the NAIS remain unchanged from the original plan. States will continue to assign premises ID numbers to properties where livestock reside, and USDA will assign the new 15-digit numbering system for use with ID devices. Approved identification devices, including microchips, should begin to be available in early 2006. Until more information is forthcoming from USDA, camelid owners are advised to register their premises with their state animal health agency or department of agriculture and stay aware of other ID program activities specific to their state.

Up-to-date information on the NAIS is available at the Camelid Working Group (CWG) web site: http://www.camelidid.org/ and on the USDA web site http://www.usda.gov/nais. The camelid ID plan is still under development by the CWG, but input from the llama and alpaca community is needed so a plan can be developed that meets the needs of the camelid industry while satisfying USDA requirements. We invite your consideration and discussion of how the camelid registries or breed associations might function in maintaining a movement tracking database for our industry. Please submit your comments or questions to the following CWG members.

Teri Nilson Baird at teri@brokenwindmill.com
Karen Conyngham at 72040.3361@compuserve.com
Sheila Fugina at bsfugina@pressenter.com
Dr. Julie Ann Jarvinen at jarvinen@iastate.edu
Marsharee Wilcox at mwilcox@spt.com or evllamas@bellatlantic.net