National Animal Identification System
The National Animal Identification System (NAIS) is designed to identify all livestock animals and poultry and track their movements. The USDA claims that the NAIS will be able to identify all premises on which animals and poultry are located, and all animals that have had contact with a disease of concern, within 48 hours of discovery. In reality, NAIS provides no food safety benefit and threatens small-scale organic farmers and ranchers, while accelerating farm consolidation and benefitting factory farms.
WASHINGTON - Fifty-five groups from across the country sent a letter yesterday to key Congressional Committees asking them to halt funding for the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) and to keep it separate from food safety reforms.
The recent highly publicized failures in America's food safety system, from the slaughter of downer cattle in California to the inconclusive hunt for salmonella-laced tomatoes, have created a public outcry. Some advocates and legislators want to include the proposed National Animal Identification System (NAIS) as a mandatory part of food
Read moreThe National Animal Identification System (NAIS) has been alleged as a three component program, premises enrollment, animal identification, and animal tracing. Now, a fourth part is coming out of the dark. USDA Undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Bruce Knight has promised the NAIS program is easy to enroll and totally voluntary on the federal level, "if ... enough livestock owners enroll so it does not have to go mandatory."
The fourth component is meticulously touched by Knight, "If USDA decides to make all or parts of the NAIS mandatory, APHIS [Animal and Plant
Read moreA couple of speed bumps have developed in rolling out implementation of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS), the joint effort of the USDA and big agribusiness to legislate mandatory registration of everyone who owns just one livestock animal. Two recently filed law suits reveal the frustrations of animal owners over this legislation which they see as part of the effort to monopolize American food production through the use of fear and intimidation.
A suit filed on July 14 in U.S. District Court by the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund is seeking to stop
Read moreThe National Animal Identification System (NAIS) has been alleged as a three component program, premises enrollment, animal identification, and animal tracing. Now, a fourth part is coming out of the dark.
USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, Bruce Knight has promised the NAIS program is easy to enroll and totally voluntary on the federal level, "if . . . enough livestock owners enroll so it does not have to go mandatory."
The fourth Component is meticulously touched by Knight, "If USDA decides to make all or parts of the NAIS mandatory, APHIS will
Read moreWashington, D.C. In formal correspondence sent today to the leaders of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, two national groups and nine others all from different states requested that Congress immediately halt any further advancement of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) and to conduct an oversight hearing on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) NAIS activities to carefully and deliberately investigate the full ramifications of USDA's NAIS-related actions and proposals.
Read moreMany parents were appalled when we saw on our television screens a video of workers abusing a downer cow with electric shocks because the cow was too sick to stand up. We were even more horrified to learn that meat from that cow had gone into lunches served by the federal School Lunch Program. The scandal at the Hallmark/Westland plant in Chino, Calif., has sparked interest in the current trend of securing local meat from sources that are grass-fed, organic and come from animals raised humanely. Our kids deserve the safest meat in their food. Sadly, Congress is now considering squashing
Read moreThe US Department of Agriculture has been ordered to halt the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) by a federal district court judge.
The livestock ID and tracking program, scheduled to begin in June, was suspended indefinitely pending further orders by Judge Emmet Sullivan, US District Court, District of Columbia.
The program, which would implant electronic tracking devices in all U.S. livestock, supposedly for the purpose of tracking outbreaks of animal diseases such as avian flu and "mad cow", would be ineffectual, extremely expensive, and could jeopardize
Read moreMeatingplace: Will the COOL provisions in the farm bill push USDA Read more
Billings, Mont. R-CALF USA was pleased to learn that on June 4, 2008, the U.S. District Court District of Columbia forced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to suspend indefinitely its plan to establish a new Privacy Act system of records titled "National Animal Identification System (NAIS)." In April, USDA proposed to establish the NAIS system of records, which was to become effective June 9, 2008, and had published a notice soliciting public comments. R-CALF USA and other organizations submitted comments with the agency in opposition to USDA's plan. The court-ordered
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