ISSUE

Animal Health

PLACE IN FOOD CYCLE

Natural/Human Resources

POLICY

National Animal Identification and Tracking System (NAIS)

POLICY TOOL

Regulations: Animal Identification Numbers (AIN)

SCALE

State / Federal

ACTORS

States, USDA, Private Industry

PROBLEMS ADDRESSED

Controlling the spread of contagious diseases among livestock. Provides means to isolate disease and notify other producers of an outbreak. Intended to maintain access to markets by providing means to prove individual animals are disease free by proving point of origin and path.

POLICY GOALS IMPLICATED

Security - Basic food safety, maintain health of unaffected herds and flocks. Liberty - Requires disclosure of private information, potential for abuse. Equity - Since some may choose not to participate, they may find their ability to sell in certain markets curtailed. Also, tags are expensive: $200/50 which will limit voluntary participation. Some talk of charging fees for reportable events.

TOOL CHARACTERISTICS

Participation is voluntary at the federal level, so it is not coercive per se, but market forces may require participation. Some states require participation in order to receive services. Level of directness is moderate, the program is carried out as a partnership between government and private entities. Automaticity is moderate, since existing tagging systems can be modified.

EXTENT POLICY SUPPORTS/HINDERS

Producers must purchase tags from government authorized resellers. Resellers report the sale of tags and the associated Animal Identification Numbers (AIN) to the USDA On receipt of tags, producers must place them on the animals. This is a highly complex administrative process with dependence on data, distribution, and reporting systems. Hinders - In creating an administrative burden, initially may hinder civic agriculture but the process will likely become routine over time. While the government states that small producers who keep their own animals (chickens, for example) it remains unclear as to how they will be affected.

ADDITIONAL LINKS

http://animalid.aphis.usda.gov/nais/animal_id/index.shtml
http://nonais.org
http://www.countrysidemag.com/issues/5_2006.htm#article4
http://www.stopanimalid.org
http://www.ruralvermont.org/nais.html