USDA going forward with ID plan

By MANDY SPIKES | Central Texas Edition

TSCRA President Bob McCan discusses the USAID program to participants at the TSCRA annual convention. -Staff photo by  Spikes

March 18, 2004 -- Due to ongoing concerns about the safety of U.S. beef, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is going forward with an animal identification plan which will allow both the federal and state governments to keep tabs of beef cattle as they are sold and moved throughout the United States.

The decision to implement the United States Animal Identification Program (USAID) was "driven mainly by the regulatory veterinary community due to an apparent lack of an identification system for disease surveillance purposes," explained David Crow, Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association's (TSCRA) director and brand and inspection committee chairman.

At the TSCRA's annual convention, which was held Mar. 7-10 in Austin, TSCRA president Bob McCan addressed the USAIP program and the possible future it has with cattlemen.

"When dealing with the USAIP, you must understand that TSCRA can't afford to sit back on the issue. We are currently very engaged in the program and we will continue to be even more engaged in it in the future."

McCan said that "we can see the train coming. We either can try to slow it down or get on board. If we don't get on board, though, we will get run over. That's why we must be involved in the plan."

He explained the objective of the USAIP is to trace the animal movement each time they are sold or if they cross state lines. "The animals will be provided a number that is unique to each animal. These numbers are to be recorded on a tag and maintained in an animal identification database. These tags will be sold by a tag distributor." He added that not everyone will be a tag distributor. In order to be a distributor, the individual must become certified.

"Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags are a favored method to be used. Another method is a visible tag, which will be utilized by the USAIP." RFID tags are plastic and are approximately the diameter of a quarter. It contains a microchip surrounded by a coil of copper wire.

"Once the cattle are sold and relocated or moved out of state, the movement would be recorded into an animal database system. This would happen because commingling will occur."

The animal's information would be maintained by a national identification database that would hold the existing information relevant to each animal. "Approved federal and state animal health officials would have access to the database for disease surveillance purposes."

Challenges that McCan said the USAIP face is the schedule to have it implemented, which has been set at July 2004. Interstate movement recording is set to take effect by July 2005 and intrastate movement is set at July 2006. "We see the schedule to be too aggressive for a practical implementation and must be modified."

The cost of the USAIP over seven years is estimated to be over $568 million. "If the federal government is mandating such a system, TSCRA believes they should pick up the majority of the cost."

Another concern is confidentiality, McCan said. "The protection of records from access through the Freedom of Information Act must be addressed. Everyone has concerns with this."

In October 2003, TSCRA wrote the USDA expressing concerns over the USAIP. On March 5, TSCRA provided written testimony to the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture at the hearing on animal identification in Houston. A few of the TSCRA testimony included:

• The system must be voluntary,

• It must have a reasonable timeline for implementation,

• Federal funding must be adequate if producers are mandated to comply,

• Confidentiality must be addressed, and

• Verification and compliance must be addressed.

"We see a potential role with TSCRA in both compliance and verification of the plan," McCan said.

There are still a lot of unanswered questions in the program, he explained, but TSCRA will work at finding out the solutions. "We are continuing the evolution of the process and trying to have input for the program."