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February 20, 2006
US GOVERNMENT TO TRACK ANIMALS AND THEIR OWNERS
Plans for a system that would require tagging or implanting all farm
animals with radio frequency devices and registering those animals with
a federal government tracking system have been delayed until after
2009, the USDA announced last week. The National Animal Identification
System (NAIS) has been gaining support in the corporate agribusiness
world, supposedly as a method for sourcing the origins of Mad Cow
disease or possible terrorist biological attacks on the nation's
livestock. Opponents point out the plan was drawn up by corporate
behemoths like Monsanto and would require every owner of even a single
animal to register their home with a national tracking system,
including Global Positing Coordinates (for satellite tracking) and
implant or tag every animal with a radio frequency device (RFID).
Large-scale livestock producers say NAIS would help them control an
outbreak of disease by allowing individual animals to be tracked to
their origins. Small-scale farmers say the registration fees, RFID
expenses and administrative bureaucracy of the system would drive them
out of business. The USDA announced a delay in the launch of the
program last week, based on disputes in the cattle industry over who
gets control of the overall database. The OCA is in the process of
building an online NAIS information and action center to help citizens
educate themselves and offer feedback to the USDA on the NAIS issue.
Posted by paba7 at February 20, 2006 04:42 PM
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