Under Secretary Bruce Knight addresses 2007 ID-Info Expo

By Doug Rich

"I think it is very clear to everyone that a National Animal Identification System (NAIS) is the right thing to do," Bruce Knight, U.S. Department of Agriculture Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, said. "Its primary emphasis is about supporting animal health. The purpose first and foremost is protecting livestock and preserving the livelihoods of producers."

Speaking at the ID-Info Expo in Kansas City, Mo., Knight said the next step is for USDA to release a business plan that will make NAIS transparent for everyone involved.

"In the next month we will be releasing a business plan that will give everyone in this room the template of how we will move forward in advancing animal traceability," Knight said.

Knight said he and Secretary Johanns are committed to having a very transparent plan. Something that everyone can see whether they are a supporter of animal ID or an opponent of animal ID.

"I think we are well on our way to putting together a comprehensive traceability system that builds upon the tracing mechanisms that are already well established in our existing disease programs," Knight said. "Now is the time to take advantage of our decades of experience to improve upon the speed and accuracy of our existing traceability capacities."

"Comprehensive state of the art solutions are needed to get us to 48 hour traceability," Knight said. "I think NAIS is well on its way to doing that."

USDA is using financial incentives to increase participation in NAIS through its cooperative agreements. Knight said that the traditional delivery system for disease programs was to work closely with state governments in implementing the various disease eradication programs. These were structured as cooperative agreements between state and federal agencies.

"In the past year we have changed those cooperative agreements to a much more modern approach to government, which means performance based," Knight said. "So that states that do the best job in delivery have access to more cooperative agreement funds and states that do a poor job will have access to less cooperative agreement funds."

"We see those cooperative agreements as a way to move forward," Knight said.

USDA has purchased 1.5 million RFID tags for existing and ongoing disease programs. Knight said this will help local practitioners and producers become more familiar with the tags.

"In the long-term it will help producers because it will bring down the cost of tags," Knight said.

Knight reminded those attending the ID-Info Expo, sponsored by the National Institute for Animal Agriculture, of the costs associated with disease outbreaks. Knight said that since 2002 detection of bovine tuberculosis (TB) in Arizona, California, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, and Texas required the destruction of more than 25,000 cattle. USDA spent approximately $90 million on owner indemnification and control activities. Since 2004, USDA has tested 787,000 animals in response to TB outbreaks. Another TB outbreak was detected in New Mexico in June which will add to these totals.

In 2003 USDA spent $5 million on its epidemiology investigation, depopulation, and initial response to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). To regain access to foreign markets, USDA spent nearly $189 million on the enhanced BSE surveillance program.

The largest animal disease outbreak in the U.S. in the last 30 years was a case of Exotic Newcastle disease in 2002. This took 10 months to eradicate at a cost of $160 million.

"I think these examples demonstrate that we are as vulnerable today as we ever have been to a disease outbreak," Knight said. "They demonstrate very clearly the need for us to have a very robust vigorous traceback system that can move quickly."

Doug Rich can be reached by phone at 785-749-5304 or by e-mail at richhpj@aol.com.

9/17/07

	Web hpj.com

Copyright/Privacy
Copyright 1995-2008.  High Plains Publishers, Inc.  All rights reserved.  Any republishing of these pages, including electronic reproduction of the editorial archives or classified advertising, is strictly prohibited. If you have questions or comments you can reach us at High Plains Journal 1500 E. Wyatt Earp Blvd., P.O. Box 760, Dodge City, KS 67801 or call 1-800-452-7171. Email: webmaster@hpj.com