NAIS - The Quick Version

Okay, here goes - NAIS in a nutshell.

NAIS stands for National Animal Identification System. Rolled out by the USDA as a "voluntary" program in 2003, it has three levels. The first is Premises ID, a registration of every property that has livestock on it, for any reason. This includes a 7 digit, GPS tracked number that goes on every school, fairground, farm, stable, vet clinic or any place where livestock might be found.

The second is Tagging. This is supposed to be a permanent, unique identification of every single individual livestock animal in the country. It uses 15 digits, the first is 840, the international code for the United States. Ideally it uses an RFID chip, in an eartag, though tattoos, brands and other techniques have been accepted.

Lastly is Tracking. This requires that every farm animal owner report to the USDA database whenever an animal receives a tag, loses a tag, disappears, goes off farm, or meets another farm animal. This report must be filed by broadband or high speed Internet within 24 hours of the event. Also, any reportable illness needs to be reported.

So what's wrong with that? It's just paperwork, right? No, it's not. First off, as of last week, it's not voluntary, it's mandatory to the Premises and Tagging level if you have any of the 17 species of livestock that are currently listed as NAIS involved, that also have reportable disease programs. That's pretty much everyone. The Tracking component is slated to be unrolled within a year, if they follow the original timeline.

Also, the technology doesn't exist for many species, including poultry, miniature goats, earless goats and other species. The tags that are now being mandated have been shown to be hackable by teenagers with cell phones. How "unique" is that?

Individual tagging and tracking is also not applicable to big industrial farms involved in poultry or swine. The lifespan and management practices of these species make it allowable for their "owners" to use a "lot system," and report movements by increments of 1,000's at a time. Of course, every individual animal always behaves perfectly. Just ask anyone who's tried to herd cats. These are the very animals that suffer the highest levels of stress and have the hardest impact on the environment, yet they are trusted to forego these crucial aspects of this "disease control" program.

Lastly, the rationales for this program have ranged from "agr0-terrorism" to Mad Cow, to Bird Flu to Animal Health. Who created this program? That shows the real reason for this program. It was created by Big Ag Livestock Producers and Animal Identification companies, prior to 9/11/01. These are the very people who will operate the database which holds all the information that the farmers report.

There is no sense of scale, except that "the bigger the better." There is no religious exemption, or exemption by purpose, such as a 4H exhibitor. There is no reality check that the program only chases disease rather than promotes health. Farm vets and technicians will be required to report any infringement they see, and probably lose that farm's business in the process. Any questionable farmer already delays treatment, but if they know that they are going to be reported to the authorities for a sick animal, why would the call for help?

The GAO looked at agro-terrorism and though NAIS was already being discussed, did not list it as an answer to the problem. They suggested additional inspectors, educators, field tests and things that the government should do. Instead the government decided that these were things that the farmer should do, give up their freedom and incur significant expenses. The rules for NAIS haven't been fully published yet, so there's no way to know what the cost of tagging and reporting will be. The financial cost of Premises registration will certainly affect the selling price of an enrolled farm.

The International Code also shows that this is about "Country of Origin." Only 15% of American farmers export, and certainly their customers can require additional information. But if it's about food safety and Mad Cow, why did the USDA stop Creekstone Beef from testing its own beef, at its own expense? Even the USDA said that would be "unfair practices," to the other exporting farms who don't test. Why is it not "unfair practices," to require the 85% of American farmers who don't want to export, participate in NAIS?

Country of Origin is an important concept, but NAIS stops at the slaughterhouse door. COOL starts on the inside, once the meat is harvested. But the identifying mark is removed before the animal is even processed, so how does NAIS promote food health? It doesn't.

There are so many places that NAIS doesn't make sense, it's amazing that it's gotten as far as it has. How did it happen? Because the consumer doesn't know what happens with their food, and the media is more concerned about keeping its advertisers than about covering this vital program. More to come but if you want to learn more, visit www.libertyark.net, www.ftcldf.org, or one of the many other anti-NAIS sites for their particular take on the issue.