[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 21 (Thursday, February 1, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4680-4681]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-1719]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. APHIS-2007-0007]
National Animal Identification System; User Guide and Technical
Documents
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that we are making available for
review and comment three documents related to the National Animal
Identification System: A Draft User Guide, a Program Standards and
Technical Reference document, and a technical specification document
for the animal tracking databases.
ADDRESSES: All three documents are available on the Internet at http://animalid.aphis.usda.gov/nais/. The documents may also be viewed in our
reading room. The reading room is located in room 1141 of the USDA
South Building, 14th Street and Independence Avenue SW., Washington,
DC. Normal reading room hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through
Friday, except holidays. To be sure someone is there to help you,
please call (202) 690-2817 before coming.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Draft User Guide: Dr. Adam Grow; Director, Surveillance
and Identification Programs, National Center for Animal Health
Programs, VS, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 200, Riverdale, MD 20737-
1231; (301) 734-3752.
Program Standards and Technical Reference: Dr. John F.
Wiemers, National Animal Identification Staff, VS, APHIS, 2100 S. Lake
Storey Road, Galesburg, IL 61401; (309) 344-1942.
Animal Tracking Databases Technical Specifications
Document: Mr. Rich Baca, Team Leader, Veterinary Services Application
Information Management, Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health, VS,
APHIS, 2150 Centre Avenue, Bldg B, Mail Stop 2W4, Fort Collins, CO
80526; (970) 494-7346.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
As part of ongoing efforts to safeguard animal health, the U.S.
Department of
[[Page 4681]]
Agriculture (USDA) initiated implementation of a National Animal
Identification System (NAIS) in 2004. The NAIS is a cooperative State-
Federal-industry program administered by USDA's Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service (APHIS). The purpose of the NAIS is to provide a
streamlined information system that will help producers and animal
health officials respond quickly and effectively to animal disease
events in the United States.
The first component of the program, premises registration, is well
underway and the second component, animal identification, is being
implemented for several species. The third component, animal tracing,
is currently under development with USDA's State and industry partners.
Industry, through private systems, and States will manage the animal
tracking databases that maintain the movement records of animals. These
information systems will provide the locations of a subject animal and
the records of other animals that the subject animal came into contact
with at each premises. Participation in any component of the program is
voluntary.
This notice announces the availability of three documents related
to the National Animal Identification System: A Draft User Guide, a
Program Standards and Technical Reference document, and a technical
specification document for the animal tracking databases.
Draft User Guide for the NAIS
The Draft User Guide provides comprehensive information about
participating in the NAIS. Part I of the document provides a brief
overview to familiarize producers with the NAIS, its goals, its
organizational components, and other information concerning its ongoing
implementation. The remainder of the document discusses each of the
NAIS' components in greater detail and provides operational-level ``how
to'' information and resources. Part II of the document provides
information about premises registration; Part III of the document
discusses the animal identification component of the program; and Part
IV of the document details the animal tracing component.
The Draft User Guide is the most current plan for the NAIS and
replaces all previously published program documents, including the 2005
Draft Strategic Plan and Draft Program Standards (announced at 70 FR
23961-23963, May 6, 2005) and the 2006 Strategy for the Implementation
of NAIS (announced at 71 FR 17805-17806, April 7, 2006). Those
documents provided the opportunity for the public to comment on the
NAIS as USDA worked through many issues with industry and the States
and Tribes. USDA received valuable feedback from producers, State
animal health officials, and other interested stakeholders on the
documents and on the program, and made adjustments to the program in
response.
The Draft User Guide represents the most up-to-date general
information on NAIS today. The NAIS will continue to evolve as details
are addressed through ongoing dialogue with all stakeholders.
Program Standards and Technical Reference Document
The Program Standards and Technical Reference document supplements
the Draft User Guide and provides, as a separate document, an update
for the data element standards that were contained in the 2005 Draft
Program Standards. To ensure a uniform, streamlined information system
evolves, USDA has established certain data standards, where necessary,
to facilitate standardization of information in the NAIS. This document
provides the data element standards and other standards relative to the
NAIS. Use of these standards by States, Tribes, and industry
organizations involved in the administration of the system,
manufacturers of identification devices, and other entities that are
part of, or that support the NAIS, will ensure that the system is
effective. Although the Draft User Guide contains valuable information
about NAIS information systems, this Program Standards document is
targeted more to entities that are involved in the administration of
the program, and thus contains details not appropriate for the User
Guide, which is aimed at producers participating in the program.
Animal Tracking Database Technical Specifications Document
USDA is developing a single portal, referred to as the Animal Trace
Processing System (ATPS), to allow authorized State and Federal animal
health officials to request information from the administrators of the
animal tracking databases in certain situations:
An indication (suspect, presumptive positive, etc.) or
confirmed positive test of a foreign animal disease.
An animal disease emergency as determined by the Secretary
of Agriculture and/or State Departments of Agriculture.
The need to conduct a traceback or traceforward to
determine the origin of infection for a program disease (brucellosis,
tuberculosis, etc.).
To ensure that the privatization of the animal movement tracking
databases progresses in as timely a manner as possible, APHIS initiated
the integration of private and State animal tracking databases (ATDs)
with the NAIS during an interim/development phase to allow
participation in 2006 and early 2007.
Organizations that wished to participate requested USDA evaluations
of their systems for consideration. If the system met the interim
requirements, the organization had the opportunity to participate in
the interim cooperative agreement. As of January 15, 2007, APHIS had
entered into interim cooperative agreements with 14 organizations that
have databases that meet minimum standards and that wish to support the
advancement of the integration of private and State animal tracking
databases with the NAIS.
Throughout this interim/development phase, USDA continued to work
with participating organizations to design and develop the ATPS and to
establish the technical specifications of the ATDs. ATDs in the
implementation phase will need to fulfill certain technical
requirements to enable them to integrate with the ATPS. The Animal
Tracking Database Technical Specifications document contains the
specifications for establishing compliant animal tracking databases for
the implementation phase. Applications for the implementation
(production) phase of the animal tracking databases may be requested by
contacting Mr. Rich Baca (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
Comments about any of these documents or other aspects of the NAIS
may be submitted to USDA through the NAIS Web site e-mail address:
[email protected] or by mail to NAIS Program Staff, VS,
APHIS, 4700 River Road, Unit 200, Riverdale, MD 20737.
Done in Washington, DC, this 30th day of January 2007.
Nick Gutierrez,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. E7-1719 Filed 1-31-07; 8:45 am]
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