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NATIONAL
ANIMAL
IDENTIFICATION
SYSTEM
(NAIS)
February
6,
2009
Arkansas
Legislation
Introduced
HB1046,
introduced
by
Rep.
Roy
Ragland,
a
cattleman
in
northern
Arkansas,
would
protect
animal
owners
from
NAIS
and
any
other
animal
identification
program
from
becoming
mandatory
in
Arkansas.
The
bill
makes
the
decision
to
participate
or
not
participate
left
up
to
the
property/animal
owner.
Rep.
Ragland
is
the
Chair
of
the
House
Agriculture
Committee,
and
also
a
member
of
the
Arkansas
Animal
Producer’s
Association.
Proposed
USDA
Regulations
Change
Announced
USDA
has
announced
a
proposed
rule
change
which
they
have
summarized
as
follows:
“We
are
proposing
to
amend
the
domestic
livestock
regulations
to
require
that
when
animal
identification
numbers
(AINs)
are
used,
only
those
numbers
beginning
with
the
840
prefix
will
be
recognized
as
official
for
use
on
all
AIN
tags
applied
to
animals
1
year
or
more
after
the
date
on
which
this
proposed
rule
is
finalized.
In
addition,
we
are
proposing
to
require
that
all
new
premises
identification
numbers
(PINs)
that
are
issued
on
or
after
the
effective
date
of
this
rule
use
the
seven-character
alphanumeric
code
format.
Official
eartags
that
use
a
premises
based
numbering
system
issued
after
a
1-year
phase-in
period
will
be
required
to
use
the
seven-character
alphanumeric
code
format
as
well.
Further,
we
are
proposing
several
changes
pertaining
to
the
use
of
the
U.S.
shield
on
official
eartags,
numbering
systems
that
use
such
eartags,
and
the
correlation
of
those
numbering
systems
with
the
PIN.
These
proposed
changes
are
intended
to
achieve
greater
standardization
and
uniformity
of
official
numbering
systems
and
eartags
and
to
enhance
animal
traceability,
as
discussed
in
previous
Federal
Register
documents
pertaining
to
the
National
Animal
Identification
System.”
Since
this
proposed
rule
change
does
not
delve
into
previously
approved
identification
systems,
such
as
those
used
by
NPGA
(tattoos
and
microchips),
I
contacted
Linda
Campbell,
chair
of
the
Goat
Working
Group
to
which
I
belong,
to
get
some
clarification
on
whether
or
not
NPGA’s
identification
systems
would
be
affected
by
this
rule
change
should
it
be
approved
by
USDA.
She
said,
“They
(USDA)
are
still
honoring
our
request
to
keep
the
goat
ID
methods
that
we
recommended
in
place…
they
are
just
transitioning
from
old
tags/devices,
to
the
840
AIN
numbers…”
Essentially,
if
all
of
this
is
true,
this
proposed
rule
change
would
have
no
impact
on
NPGA’s
animal
identification
systems.
Texas
Legislation
Introduced
SB682,
introduced
by
Sen.
Eltife,
would
stop
the
Texas
Animal
Health
Commission
from
making
NAIS
mandatory.
Under
the
current
law,
the
TAHC
has
the
authority
to
make
NAIS
mandatory
whenever
it
wishes.
SB682
removes
that
authority
and
repeals
the
civil
and
criminal
penalties
for
noncompliance.
In
addition,
SB682
contains
several
important
protections:
-
Requires
notice
that
the
program
is
voluntary
before
anyone
can
be
enrolled;
-
Provides
the
right
to
withdraw
at
any
time
and
have
one’s
information
deleted;
-
Bars
any
person
(government
or
private)
from
conditioning
any
services,
benefits,
licenses,
payments
or
permits
on
participating.
In
other
words,
no
carrots
or
sticks
may
be
used
to
get
people
to
participate;
-
Forbids
the
agency
from
mandating
NAIS
premises
registration
or
identification
as
part
of
any
other
government
program,
which
includes
existing
disease
control
programs;
-
Requires
the
agency
to
notify
people
who
are
already
registered
and
inform
them
that
they
can
withdraw.
SB682
includes
a
provision
that
allows
the
TAHC
to
mandate
the
NAIS
if
and
only
if
the
USDA
adopts
a
final
rule
under
the
Administrative
Procedures
Act
mandating
NAIS.
This
“federal
trigger”
is
not
ideal,
but
it
has
been
carefully
limited.
Timelines
and
guidance
documents,
like
the
Business
Plan
and
User
Guide,
would
not
allow
the
TAHC
to
move
forward
with
a
mandatory
NAIS.
Only
a
final
rule
would
trigger
the
provision.
Moreover,
TAHC
could
not
move
any
faster
or
further
than
the
USDA
in
implementing
NAIS.
Ray
Hoyt
NPGA
President/NAIS
Coordinator
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