MEMORANDUM To: AHC Organizations From: American Horse Council Re: USDA Releases Draft NAIS Business Plan Date: December 21, 2007 | |||
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Re: USDA Releases Draft NAIS Business Plan The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has released a new business plan for the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) titled “A Business Plan to Advance Animal Disease Traceability.” The NAIS is a voluntary program intended to standardize the identification of premises and livestock, and to record certain livestock movements for the purpose of disease management and control. The program’s goal is to protect the health of U.S. livestock, as well as our ability to move and market animals, through a State-Federal-Industry partnership. This new draft USDA business plan details their recommended strategies and plans to facilitate progress towards achieving optimal disease tracing capabilities. It was developed to explain how USDA plans to continue the development and implementation of a voluntary ID system. It focuses on harmonizing existing animal health programs (both state and Federal regulated and voluntary programs), industry health and marketing programs, and various animal identification techniques. It gives a comprehensive overview of the country’s current traceability status and discusses seven major strategies that USDA will be focusing on to enhance the current level of traceability. Strategy 1 – Prioritize Species The first strategy within the NAIS draft business plan is to prioritize species and sector participation. The prioritization is broken down into three categories of high, medium and low with additional subcategories within each. The category of “high” consists of cattle. The “medium” category includes swine, poultry, goats and certain equine sectors. The “low” category includes sheep and aquatics. The equine industry is broken down into two categories for the prioritization levels. The sector that is within the medium category of tier one are horses that require a CVI or EIA test. Horses that do not require a CVI or EIA test are in the low priority section. This prioritization follows the recommendation which the Equine Species Working Group (ESWG) made to USDA in August 2006, which proposed that horses which move to a premises where a Certificate of Veterinary Inspection (CVI), Brand Inspection, VS-127 permit or International CVI are required should be identified. The records maintained through the currently existing and utilized movement permits capture the high risk movements of horses that pose the largest threat of spreading disease in the horse industry. Strategy 2 - Harmonize Animal ID Systems This second strategy focuses on harmonizing both State/Federal government regulated and industry animal identification programs by creating common and compatible processes and data standards. This will allow all systems to communicate with each other when certain information is needed during a disease outbreak. Standardizing some of the key items within these programs will save time, money and effort by working with systems already in place while allowing each of the entities to continue using animal identification for multiple purposes as needed. Strategy 3 - Converge Animal ID Standards with Disease Programs The third strategy of the business plan addresses standardizing certain data elements within existing disease programs to ensure compatibility and enhance traceability and response capabilities in the event of an emergency. One example would be the use of the premises identification number (PIN) with official disease programs, import and export, and certificates of veterinary inspection (CVI). Strategy 4 - Integrate automated technologies Within strategy four, plans to integrate NAIS-complaint identification devices and automated data capture with animal disease programs are detailed. The switch to automated data capture will increase the volume and quality of data, minimize errors and will speed the entry of data into the databases, all allowing for quicker access to important information during the response to an animal health emergency. Electronic CVIs and EIA tests are examples of how USDA plans to utilize automated technology within the equine industry. Strategy 5 - State Partnerships The fifth strategy discusses USDA’s efforts and plans to partner with States, Tribes and Territories to facilitate the continued development of their individual animal disease traceability infrastructures with localized plans which reflect the animal health priorities of the particular region. Strategy 6 - Collaborate with Industry The sixth strategy details the collaborations of USDA with industry organizations and animal health officials to facilitate the implementation of certain parts of the animal disease traceability programs. Currently USDA has entered into cooperative agreements with certain non-profit industry organizations to help promote premises registration and continues to work with and build these collaborations. Additionally, the plan discusses accredited veterinarians working with USDA to adopt NAIS data standards in everyday animal health management and disease programs. Strategy 7 - Advance ID Technologies The seventh and final detailed strategy within the business plan discusses establishing performance standards for identification devices and evaluating emerging technologies for use in the NAIS and animal disease programs. Available for Comment The business plan is available on the USDA’s NAIS website – www.usda.gov.nais. The plan is currently in draft form and is available for public comment. Comments can be submitted by sending an email to animalidcomments@aphis.usda.gov or by writing to the National Animal Identification System program staff, USDA, APHIS, VS, 4700 River Road, Unit 200, Riverdale, MD 20737. The business plan is a living document with no deadline for comments. The plan will be periodically reviewed and updated as needed. Additional Documents USDA has also posted a fact sheet titled “The Facts About Traceability” on the NAIS website which gives an overview of the importance and current status of traceability and briefly details the draft business plan. Additionally USDA released the official version of the NAIS User Guide which replaces the November 2006 draft version. The User Guide has been revised incorporating some comments that were received. USDA hopes these changes will make the guide easier to use and understand. The guide provides producers with the most up-to-date information on what the program is, how it works, how it can be put to use and why participation would be beneficial. |
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