NAIS Animal Identification

A. Under the current plan, animals that never leave premises do not need to be identified. However, animal owners are encouraged to identify their animals and their premises, regardless of the number of animals present, since many animal diseases may be spread whether an animal leaves its home premises or not. Examples of such diseases include West Nile virus, foot-and-mouth disease, vesicular stomatitus, and equine infectious anemia.1

Q. If a person only shows animals or only takes them to trail rides, do they need to be identified? (For example, I only take my pigs to a pig boarding facility when we go on vacation or maybe to a pig festival for fun with other pigs and their owners, will I have to get an AIN for her?)

A. When people show or commingle their animals with animals from multiple premises, the possibility of spreading disease becomes a factor. Those animals will need to be identified.1

Q. What is "commingling"?

A. Commingling may be defined as an animal having contact with, or being inter-mixed with, animals other than herd mates from that animal's premises of origin.1

Q. What constitutes a reportable event under the nais that would require an AIN?

A. Table 7, Page 13, of April 2005 NAIS “Draft” Program Standards titled “Animal Events Code”

Event Codes and Descriptions

1 - AIN Tag is distributed to a premises or a non-producer participant

2 - Tag applied – AIN tag is applied to an animal

3 - Moved in – An animal is moved into a premises

4 - Moved out – An animal is moved out of premises

5 - Lost Tag – New tag is applied to an animal that lost a tag and previous AIN is unknown

6 - Replaced Tag or Retagged – New tag is applied to an animal that lost a tag and previous AIN tag is known

7 - Imported – an animal is imported into the US

8 - Exported – an animal is exported from the US

9 - Sighting – animal has a confirmed sighting at a location, no movement has occurred (example – veterinarian sighting)

10 - Harvested – animal was terminated at an abattoir

11 - Died – animal died of natural causes or was euthanized at the farm/ranch

12 - Tag returned – tag returned by producer, packing house, etc.

13 Animal missing – lost, stolen, etc.

14 - FCVI – Certificate of Veterinary Inspection Comprehensive recommendations for identifying animals and reporting movements are in development in cooperation with the species-specific working groups and State-Federal animal health authorities.3

Q. Will NAIS require that all animal movements be reported? Will I have to record all trail rides and which properties I cross?

A. No. Recording all animal movements would not be practical, nor is that the intention with NAIS. Reportable movements under the NAIS would include movements with a high potential for spreading disease (i.e., movements where animals commingle with other animals). By recording the movement of animals as they come in contact with other animals, animal health officials will be able to quickly identify exposed animals and stop the spread of disease. There are a number of factors that can influence whether an animal movement activity may pose a disease risk. Certainly, some events pose greater risk of disease transmission than others. The number of animals, their source(s), the location of the event, and the health status and certification of the animals, for example, all influence the degree of disease risk in a given situation. For example, taking your animal on a trail ride with a neighbor or moving livestock from pasture to pasture within your operation would pose a relatively low risk of spreading disease. It would be unnecessary from a disease standpoint to report all movements in such “low-risk” situations. If additional risk factors come into play, it would then be necessary to consider recording the animal movement. For example, if livestock are moved from a farm to a state or national exhibition—or other events with large numbers of animals from many sources—the possibility of spreading disease becomes a factor. These types of “high-risk” movements will be the priority to report. State and Federal animal health officials are working with the NAIS working groups to develop recommendations for the specific types of movement that may pose a disease risk for each species and should be reported.3

Animal Identification and Reporting Animal Movements:

Scenarios that would not call for animals to be identified and/or movements reported in the NAIS include:

• animals that never leave the farm/location of birth;

• animals moved from their birth premises directly to custom slaughter for personal use of the animal’s owner;

• livestock moved from pasture-to-pasture within one’s operation;

• participation in local fairs and parades;

• the local trading of birds among private individuals; and

• animals that “get out” and cross over into the neighbor’s land.

Q. Where do producers get official animal identification numbers?

A. Following premises registration, producers may contact an animal identification number manager in their area to obtain official animal identification numbers (AIN). AINs will be issued to the premises and linked to the animals in a way that is appropriate for the species. For example, cattle producers may use ear tags on their animals, while LaMancha goat producers may require a different type of identification method, since their animals have very small ears. Producers should check with their State or Tribal animal health authority to determine who they should contact about AINs. In many cases, the States and Tribes are in the preliminary stages of implementing the NAIS, so they may not have an AIN manager in place yet.

Please Note: Other identification numbering systems defined in the Code of Federal Regulations will remain official through a NAIS transition period. Producers should check with a State, Federal, or Tribal animal health authority for more information about obtaining AINs and Group/Lot Identification Numbers for various livestock species.

Q. What are you doing to ensure the privacy of ranchers' and farmers' records? Will information collected for the NAIS be exempted from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)?

A. USDA recognizes the concerns about the confidentiality of this information and is working on options to allay these concerns. At the same time, it is important to keep in mind that the national information repositories will only include information for animal and disease tracking purposes. Proprietary production data will remain in private databases.

FOIA can be used to obtain information from a Federal agency when that agency has custody and control of a record. USDA is very much aware of producers' concerns about the confidentiality of information collected as part of the NAIS and is taking them very seriously as officials explore the most effective means for collecting animal identification information. Accordingly, USDA is pursuing various options for appropriately protecting the information in the NAIS from public disclosure.

Q. Where can interested stakeholders go to obtain more information about this plan?