USDA Releases Implementation Plans for Animal Identification System

News Date April 10, 2006

       Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns announced April 6 the release of an implementation plan that outlines timelines and benchmarks for the establishment of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS). USDA also released a plan for the initial integration of private and state animal tracking databases with NAIS.
       The implementation plan sets an aggressive timeline for full implementation of the NAIS by 2009. It establishes benchmarks for incrementally accomplishing the remaining implementation goals to enable the NAIS to be operational by 2007, and to achieve full producer participation by 2009. USDA noted that several important components have already been accomplished. These include the development of premises registration systems in each state and the issuance of guidelines for the manufacture and distribution of animal identification numbers. More than 235,000 premises are currently registered.
       USDA also released the general technical standards for animal tracking databases that will enable integration of private systems with the NAIS. Private database owners are invited to submit applications for system evaluation to USDA and offer feedback as the final technical requirements are established. USDA will then enter into cooperative agreements with owners of databases that meet the standards. The application for system evaluation and a draft cooperative agreement are available on the NAIS web site at http://www.usda.gov/nais.
       Finally, USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is finalizing $3 million in funds that will be awarded to a number of states to conduct field trials to analyze information pertaining to animal identification. Field trials will focus on the evaluation of new technologies for animal identification and automated data collection.
       Training sessions will be offered to organizations interested in distributing animal identification number (AIN) tags as either a tag manager or tag reseller. Two USDA-sponsored web conferences about the administration of AIN tags and a demonstration of the AIN Management System are scheduled for April 13 and April 26. Details of the web conferences and other information about the NAIS plans are available at http://www.usda.gov/nais. (Contact: Charlie Ingram)