The USDA‘s NAIS program is now in the “convince the angry crowds that there is no problem” stage. They are constantly spouting phrases like, “We’ve made it clear, and I can’t stress this too often or too much that NAIS is a voluntary system.” That’s a voluntary system at the federal level, with a capital “V.'” However, no matter how often they say that it is voluntary, it will not prevent it from becoming mandatory at a later date. States can still make it mandatory, and if all do, it would still be “a voluntary system at the federal level”. Further, there are already groups, such as the National Pork Producers Council that are having packing plants require Premises ID numbers from producers. If their plan continues, all pork producers will have to be in the “voluntary” system. How long will it be before it will be impossible to buy, sell, or even own animals without being in the system?
Despite their claims, the USDA still wants full participation in the NAIS. The original set of benchmarks included having every animal identified by January 2008, and the movements of all animals in commerce tracked by January 2009. Bruce Knight, the USDA Under-secretary, says those goals haven’t been abandoned.” I haven’t moved away from those objectives as far as having NAIS up and operational, but I tend to refer to it as a critical mass of participation by 2009,” he says. “Even under a mandatory system, you wouldn’t get 100% premises registration, so we’re shooting for that critical mass, and I’m still working with the professionals in the agency to really get a feel for what that would be by species. I think we can get there.” The NAIS is not dead, and is in fact now even more dangerous because of the USDA’s misinformation and weasel words. It has become much harder to convince the average citizen of the USDA and Agro-biz’s intentions. The NoNAIS.org site and the StopAnimalID.org forum are both good NAIS opposition resources. We will be posting occasional updates, but can not keep up with all of the news. Also keep an eye on the USDA’s NAIS web site.
Please continue to spread the word about NAIS and write to your state and Federal representatives. Be sure to explain the problem of the “voluntary” system, and have quotes from the USDA ready. If you take the time to look though the USDA’s web site and do web searches you can pick up some very interesting facts.
From #1 Son: Update on the National Animal Identification System (NAIS)
