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NATIONAL ANIMAL IDENTIFICATION
SYSTEM UPDATE
September 17, 2006
Excerpts of this update were taken
from material posted on the “ChevonTalk” web group by
Suzanne W. Gasparotto. It is provided as an informational
document only. No inferences should be drawn with respect to
support for the legislation, or lack thereof, described in
this update.
On September 7, 2006, Senator James
Talent (R-Mo) introduced S-3862, a bill to amend the Animal
Health Protection Act (7 USC §8308), which the U.S.
Department of Agriculture has used as the authority to
develop its proposed National Animal Identification System (NAIS).
A companion bill (HR-6042) was introduced in the House by
Representative Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo).
Section I of the bill says that the
Secretary of the Department of Agriculture “…shall not
implement or carry out, and no Federal funds shall be used
to implement or carry out, a National Animal Identification
System, or similar requirement, that mandates the
participation of livestock owners.”
Section II of the bill defines the
term “Animal Identification System” to mean: “voluntary
system for identifying or tracing animals that is
established by the Secretary.” This section also provides
protection from disclosure, under the Freedom of Information
Act, “…of information that may be collected by the USDA
through a voluntary program.” By providing information to
USDA in a voluntary program, the provider does not
relinquish any other right, privilege, or protection
afforded under federal law, including trade secret
protection.
The Secretary may disclose
information obtained through the animal identification
system if:
1. The Secretary determines that livestock may be threatened
by a disease or pest;
2. The release of the information is related to actions the
Secretary is authorized to take under this subtitle; and
3. The Secretary determines that the disclosure of the
information to a government entity or person is necessary to
assist the Secretary in carrying out the purposes of this
subtitle and the animal identification system.
The Secretary shall disclose
information to:
1. The person who owns or controls the animals, upon written
request;
2. The Attorney General for law enforcement purposes;
3. The Secretary of Homeland Security for security purposes;
4. The Secretary of Health and Human Services, to protect
public health;
5. An entity pursuant to a court order;
6. A foreign government, if necessary to trace a disease or
pest threat.
Any information obtained from the
Secretary by state or local government, is not subject to
local or state laws that require public disclosure.
Analysis (by Henry Lamb in
freedom.org)
This bill is not a National Animal Identification System
bill, and should not be considered as such. Three other
bills have been introduced, that are NAIS bills: HR-3170,
HR-1254, and HR-1256. These are bills that describe a
proposed National Animal Identification System.
Additionally, the USDA has proposed a NAIS that can be
implemented by rule, using the authority and funding granted
in the 2002 appropriation bill.
Sen. Talent’s bill goes to the seat
of this authority and amends the original authority to
prohibit any animal identification program developed by USDA
from being mandatory. The bill further prohibits the use of
federal funds to any state program that is mandatory.
The purpose of this bill is not to
describe, or define a NAIS. The other bills serve this
purpose, and these bills call for a mandatory system. The
Talent bill will now force the Agriculture Committee to
reconcile the “no mandatory program” concept with the
“mandatory” concept. This head-on battle would not have
occurred without the Talent bill. The Talent bill does
nothing more, or less, than is stated here.
Commentary (again by Henry Lamb in
freedom.org)
Opponents of the NAIS may prefer that there be no national
animal identification program at all. But this preference
ignores reality. More than four years, and at least $183
million have already been invested in developing a program.
There are at least three bills defining a NAIS, in addition
to the program developed by the USDA. If there is no
legislation, the USDA program will be instituted by rule.
The basis for this eventuality was established in the
agriculture appropriations bill.
Therefore, opponents of the NAIS
would be well served to support the Talent bill, since it is
the only hope of stopping a mandatory program. Criticism of
Talent’s bill is actually criticism of the NAIS program as
proposed by USDA, and is completely misplaced when directed
toward the Talent bill.
The Talent bill seeks only to
prohibit the USDA from making mandatory any animal
identification program that it may develop, and to prohibit
the use of federal funds for any state program that is
mandatory. It also seeks to protect from disclosure any
information that may be collected by a voluntary USDA
program. Criticism about any other aspect of the NAIS should
be directed elsewhere - not toward the Talent bill.
The verbatim text of this bill can
be found at:
http://libertyark.net/bills/s3862.htm.
Ray Hoyt
NAIS Coordinator
NPGA HER Committee Member
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