It’s never been the most popular proposal among farmers and ranchers, and so perhaps it should come as no surprise that the administration is dropping the program.That’s right. William Neuman is reporting in the New York Times online that the Obama administration has decided to scrap to the National Animal Identification System (NAIS), a program that has faced “stiff resistance from ranchers and farmers[.]” However, the administration is not giving up on the idea of animal identification. Instead, “officials said they would start over in trying to devise a livestock tracing program that could win widespread support from the industry [,]” reports Neuman.
According to the Times article, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack is set to announce the changes today. According to officials who spoke to the Times on the condition of anonymity, states will have a larger say in devising the new system, “including requirements for identifying livestock.” Additionally there will be new federal rules that will apply to animals that move in interstate commerce.
This almost certainly means that a massive lobbying effort from the various stakeholders in this issue are about to get very active.
How long the process will take is an unknown quantity, but officials with the USDA estimate it will take two years or more for the federal rules to be ready. Neuman writes that “it was not clear how far the government would go to restrict the movement of livestock between states if the animals did not meet basic traceability standards.”
NAIS was created during the Bush administration in the wake of the first discovery of Mad Cow Disease in the US, and has cost the federal government $142 million to date. The program was not popular with many of the nation’s farmers and ranchers, and in fact, only “40 percent of the nation’s livestock producers” participated, according to the Congressional Research Service.
Secretary Vilsack certainly heard discontent about NAIS when he was on the road this past year. The Times reports that in public meetings Vilsack “was bombarded by strident opposition.”
The USDA will now start working on a new system with the industry and the states. One concern of the industry that will have to be addressed is the potential problem of having fifty different rules for fifty different states. Neuman reports Mary Kay Thatcher, public policy director for the American Farm Bureau Federation, is happy with the decision but is worried that “a new system that could have different rules in every state might not be effective.”
Based on the estimated timeline, expect many more stories on animal identification.
To read Neuman’s article in the New York Times, click here.
To read the USDA news release on the change in the program, click here.
To see the new home page for the USDA's animal traceability programs, click here.
To see the APHIS Factsheet on animal disease traceability, click here.
Posted: 02/05/10
