Photo courtesy USDA/ Dean Anderson The USDA announced it will revise NAIS to allow for more flexible animal-disease traceability. |
The USDA will be developing a new framework to trace animal diseases in the United States, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in an announcement on Feb. 5, 2010.
Flexibility will be the focus of the new system as the USDA tries to respond to feedback from the current National Animal Identification System. The changes are being made in response to concerns from states, tribal nations and producers received during a listening tour on NAIS. One concern raised during the tour was that NAIS does not benefit small-farm production.
“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,” Vilsack said.
The USDA says the new animal-disease traceability system will:
- Only apply to animals moved in interstate commerce
- Be administered by states and tribal nations
- Encourage the use of lower-cost technology
- Be implemented transparently through federal regulations and the full rule-making process
As the USDA develops the new animal disease-traceability system in the next few months, it will be looking for input from farmers, ranchers and the public during the process.
Read the USDA’s factsheet on the new animal disease traceability framework to learn more.
