Meat + Poultry - October 2009 - 44

NATIONAL ANIMAL I.D.

"We already have a swine
identification program,
where 85 percent of
swine premises are
registered."
pork operators in our group are already registered. At the end of July,
90 percent of all hogs in the U.S.
were registered."

A new regime
With the arrival of the Obama Administration in Washington in January, newly appointed Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack decided to hold
a second set of "listening sessions" to
get feedback from stakeholders, including producers, processors, people from academia and others in the
industry as to how the system could
be improved. These sessions were held in May
and June of this year.
From the government's
standpoint, the listening sessions didn't go
all that well, with many
participants doing more
speaking then listening.
Vilsack
A review of the sessions
shows many opponents of NAIS were
much more outspoken than supporters and very critical of the way USDA
had run the program so far.
Vilsack said the purpose of the
sessions was to help him make decisions about the future direction of
animal identification and traceability
in the U.S. "Many of the issues and
concerns initially raised by producers, such as the cost, impact on small
farmers, privacy, confidentiality and

liability, continue to cause debate,"
he said at the time.
But Congress won't likely wait for
USDA to make changes in NAIS before taking action. Congress has been
watching reactions of producers and
other stakeholders to the program.
So far, USDA has received $142 million in funding for the program since
2004. In July, the House of Representatives eliminated all funding for the
NAIS in its version of the proposed
2010 agriculture spending legislation.
Two months ago, the Senate sliced
its NAIS funding proposal for the
upcoming year from $14.6 million
to $7.3 million. The funding issue
went to a Senate-House conference
committee, where the $7.3 million is
likely to be adopted as a compromise.
The actions Congress took in slicing
funding were mostly a result of the
criticism of the program during the
summer public hearings.
Members of Congress also expressed concerns about not enough
producers participating in the program to make it worthwhile. Particularly outspoken about the huge
amount of money USDA has spent
on NAIS during the past five years,
with little to show for it, is U.S. Rep.

"If Congress looks
at how USDA
operates and
thinks trace back
should be like
FDA, it could
happen."
Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who chairs
the Agriculture-Appropriations Subcommittee. So far, APHIS has convinced less than one-third of ranchers
and farmers to participate.
But now there are concerns in the
meat and poultry industry over steps
Congress is taking in legislation to
strengthen the Food and Drug Administration's food-safety efforts.
There are fears these steps could end
up affecting USDA and the industry

44 * Meat&Poultry * October 2009 * www.MeatPoultry.com

it regulates, including meat and poultry processing, which so far has been
kept immune from effects of legislation strengthening the FDA. There
are some concerns the House legislation and other bills could affect how
NAIS operates, including the possibility of making the animal ID program mandatory.
For example, there are food traceback provisions in two pieces of legislation strengthening the FDA, which
could be expanded to shift NAIS from
voluntary to mandatory if Congress
wanted to do that. They are the Food
Safety Enhancement Act - H.R. 2749
and the Food Safety Modernization
Act - H.R. 875. Legislation has also
been introduced in the House forbidding any animal not going through a
mandatory animal ID program from
being processed for federal meat inspection. There are concerns about
Congress looking at USDA and deciding traceback should be similar to
what is being considered for the FDA.
If that were to happen, mandatory animal ID might have to be part of the
discussion, Mark Dopp, general counsel and senior vice president for regulatory affairs of the American Meat Institute, says. "If Congress looks at how
USDA operates and thinks traceback
should be like FDA, it could happen."
While AMI, NPPC and other
trade associations support a mandatory National Animal Identification
System, and Dopp says his organization supports APHIS' role in animal ID, possible actions by Congress
could make it harder for supporters
to continue backing the program.

Bovine implications
The National Cattlemen's Beef Association, the largest national association for cattle producers, is probably
the staunchest opponent of mandatory NAIS among major agricultural
organizations. Dr. Elizabeth Parker,
chief veterinarian for NCBA, says
the organization represents 230,000
cattle farmers and ranchers. "We
recognize and support the need for a

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