USDA plans animal ID network

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its plans this week for a national network to identify animals exposed to infections such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). The initial efforts will be on cattle and potentially swine, with efforts on aquaculture and poultry to follow. “A verifiable system of national animal identification will enhance our efforts to respond to intentionally or unintentionally introduced animal disease outbreaks more quickly and effectively,” said USDA Secretary Ann Veneman in a statement.Late last year, Veneman announced plans for a National Animal Identification System (NAIS) after a cow tested positive for BSE in Washington state on December 23, 2003. The development of such a system had already been underway for more than a year and a half at that point.In the event of an infected animal, the goal of the NAIS is to use tags to identify which other animals are suspect within 48 hours. The program will be implemented in three phases. In phase I, for which the USDA has received $18.8 million, the department will look at existing federally funded animal identification systems and determine which systems could be scaled up for the NAIS.The USDA has over the past several years funded a number of pilot projects on animal identification. “Some of them are with specific producer groups, especially in the dairy arena. Some of them have been specific to a particular type of technology, such as the radio frequency ID chip,” USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Administrator Ron DeHaven told The Scientist. “There are other technologies out there, such as retinal scanning, DNA testing, just a number of different technologies upon which those different systems would be based.”The department will begin by selecting an interim data repository to handle incoming information from national centers. It has commissioned an independent analysis of repositories currently at USDA-funded animal identification projects around the country. “It's going to be big,” DeHaven said. “We're talking about 100 million animals potentially at the end of the day when we have a fully functional system.”Once USDA determines which repository shows the greatest potential for use on a national level, officials say they will assist states, Indian tribes, and other government agencies in cooperative agreements to adapt their existing systems to the new system. “The majority of the monies—I think about two thirds of the monies that have been apportioned out of the $18 million—will go towards cooperative agreements,” DeHaven said. Later this year, the USDA hopes to issue premise identifications, or IDs for locales from where animals are sold. “Shortly thereafter, we will be able to issue additional individual identifications, as well as we hope to be working with multiple species,” said USDA Undersecretary for Marketing And Regulatory Programs Bill Hawks.USDA will also in phase I identify staffing needs, develop any regulatory and legislative proposals needed to implement the system, and talk with farmers and other agriculture stakeholders about concerns such as confidentiality. “We have been working with the General Counsel's Office to assure us and everyone out there that we will be able to protect that confidentiality as long as we are in a voluntary system,” Hawks said. “And we've also said that we do not intend to move to anything other than a voluntary system until we ensure that we protect that confidentiality.”In phase II, the agency will implement selected animal ID systems at regional levels for one or more selected species, continue communication and education efforts on the system, and work with Congress on any needed legislation. In phase III, the selected animal ID systems will be scaled up to the national level. “To get from phase I to phase III will take 3, 4, 5 years, easy,” said John Paterson, a beef specialist with the Montana State University extension service. “But this is going to be real important. There are 10 bills in Congress right now that are related to this, because of BSE. Food safety is ranking number one with consumers.”Creating an integrated national identification system will prove challenging and may require multiple technologies, according to DeHaven. “Our agricultural systems in different parts of the country vary dramatically. So does it vary with species,” he said. Some species, such as livestock cattle, typically move individually, while species such as swine will typically move in lots, so a system that might work for one species wouldn't work for others, he said.

USDA plans animal ID network

System would tag livestock exposed to BSE and other infections

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