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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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