Missourians Against NAIS

NAIS Funding Trouble by Jim Niffen, MOICFA
While USDA officials use taxpayers money to travel around the countryside to conduct more listening sessions related to its National Animal Identification System (NAIS), the funding portion of that program may be dying a slow death.

The House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee on Thursday (06/11/09), voted to eliminate in the fiscal 2010 agriculture funding bill money for NAIS.

Subcommittee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn) stated in her press release that, "The bill eliminates funding for the National Animal Identification System (NAIS). After receiving $142 million in funding since fiscal year 2004, APHIS has yet to put into operation an effective system that would provide needed animal health and livestock market benefits. USDA is currently conducting a public listening tour around the country for several months to hear from stakeholders. Until USDA finishes its listening sessions and provides details as to how it will implement an effective ID system, continued investments into the current NAIS are unwarranted".

DeLauro has been extremely critical of the USDA - so this should really come as no surprise. While there may be a collective sigh, I have to wonder if there is more at stake here than meets the eye?

In February 2009, DeLauro introduced HR 875: Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009. "To establish the Food Safety Administration within the Department of Health and Human Services to protect the public health by preventing food-borne illness, ensuring the safety of food, improving research on contaminants leading to food-borne illness, and improving security of food from intentional contamination, and for other purposes."

One of the goals of HR 875 is food tracking. Under HR 875, tracking would include not just animals, but all food. This bill is far-reaching and will affect every farmer in America - both big and small. Potentially with the wording as it stands, even urban gardeners could come under fire for selling fresh produce in the local farmers market.

While the opponents of NAIS celebrate this funding delay other bills introduced into the legislature are as bad; if not worse. The House Agriculture Appropriations bill allotted $886 million to fund programs that "protect" American agriculture against animal and plant diseases.

Read DeLauro's Press Release

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