[Federal Register: November 8, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 215)]
[Notices]
[Page 64714]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr08no04-28]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. 04-119-1]
National Animal Identification System; Public Meeting
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting.
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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that the Veterinary Services
program of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, U.S.
Department of Agriculture, will host a meeting to provide stakeholders
in the Department's National Animal Identification System (NAIS),
particularly manufacturers and distributors of animal identification
devices and technologies, with an opportunity to offer comments on the
administration of animal identification numbers under the NAIS.
Specifically, the session will focus on the anticipated roles and
requirements for individuals, organizations, and companies that wish to
become authorized animal identification number managers or distributors
of approved animal identification devices.
DATES: The public meeting will be held Friday, November 19, 2004, from
9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held at the Kansas City Airport
Marriott, 775 Brasilia Avenue, Kansas City, MO.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Neil Hammerschmidt, Animal
Identification Officer, National Center for Animal Health Programs, VS,
APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 43, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231, (301) 734-
5571.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On December 30, 2003, the Secretary of
Agriculture announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
would expedite the implementation of a National Animal Identification
System (NAIS) for all animal species after the discovery of bovine
spongiform encephalopathy in a cow in Washington State. On April 27,
2004, following several months of development, the Secretary announced
the framework for implementation of a NAIS designed to provide a unique
identification number for agricultural premises and animals so that
diseases can be more quickly contained and eradicated. The Secretary
also announced that $18.8 million would be transferred from the
Department's Commodity Credit Corporation to provide initial funding
for the program during fiscal year (FY) 2004. The FY 2004 funding has
been earmarked for the initial infrastructure development and
implementation of the national system, but both private and public
support will be required to make it fully operational. The
Administration's proposed FY 2005 budget includes another $33 million
for the effort.
The NAIS will be implemented in several phases over time.
Currently, the registration of premises, i.e., the locations where
livestock are raised or held, is the primary activity of the NAIS. The
second phase will involve the identification of animals. Certain
species, such as cattle, will require individual identification, which
will be accomplished by attaching to the animal an approved
identification tag or device bearing an animal identification number
(AIN). The AIN may be cross-referenced or linked to other technologies
(e.g., radio frequency identification, retinal image, DNA, etc.) to
automate the collection of the animal's number or to verify the
animal's identification. Other species, such as swine and poultry,
typically move through the production chain in groups or lots. These
animals may be eligible for identification as a group.
In order to facilitate the implementation of the NAIS, we are
publishing an interim rule in the Rules and Regulations section of this
issue of the Federal Register (APHIS Docket No. 04-052-1, ``Livestock
Identification; Use of Alternative Numbering Systems'') that, among
other things, amended the regulations to recognize additional numbering
systems for the identification of animals in interstate commerce and
State/Federal/industry cooperative disease control and eradication
programs and to redefine the numbering system to identify premises
where animals are managed or held. The interim rule recognizes
numbering systems for individual animals, as well as groups or lots of
animals within the same production system. Use of the new numbering
systems will not, however, be required as a result of the interim rule.
Various non-producer participants will be involved in administering
the NAIS. One group of non-producer participants is the AIN managers,
who will manufacture or provide distributors with approved
identification devices or technologies containing the AIN. Another
group is the AIN distributors, who will provide AIN tags or devices to
premises that hold or manage livestock.
The design and development of an AIN management system will be
initiated in the near future. This system will require a method to
approve entities to become authorized AIN managers and distributors and
to evaluate performance. In addition, the system will need a method for
the allocation and distribution of AINs and the approval of official
animal identification devices.
For implementation to be successful, it is imperative that we share
our plans for the AIN management system with potential AIN managers and
distributors and provide a forum for them to present their views.
Therefore, we plan to conduct a public meeting on Friday, November 19,
2004, at the Kansas City Airport Marriott, Kansas City, MO, for
industry stakeholders, in particular those that manufacture and/or
distribute animal identification devices. The focus of the session will
be on the anticipated roles and responsibilities of AIN managers and
distributors under the NAIS.
The meeting will be open to the public and is intended to provide a
forum for the exchange of information regarding the administration of
AINs under the NAIS. The meeting is not intended to serve as an
opportunity for the submission of comments regarding the interim rule
published in this issue of the Federal Register (APHIS Docket No. 04-
052-1, ``Livestock Identification; Use of Alternative Numbering
Systems''). Persons wishing to submit comments on that interim rule
should refer to the commenting instructions contained in that document.
Done in Washington, DC, this 2nd day of November 2004.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. E4-3052 Filed 11-5-04; 8:45 am]
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