USCA (February 5, 2010) - The U.S. Cattlemen’s Association (USCA) today applauded Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack’s announcement that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will undertake actions to further strengthen its animal disease prevention and response capabilities under a new, flexible framework for disease traceability in the U.S.
One of USCA’s core missions has been to work with USDA to develop an animal disease trace back system that meets the needs of animal health officials at the state and tribal level without burdening producers with additional costs or subjecting them to risk.
Secretary Vilsack acknowledged the thousands of comments received by the agency on the previously proposed National Animal Identification System (NAIS) and said it is readily apparent that a new strategy for animal disease traceability is needed. “I’ve decided to revise prior policy and offer a new approach to animal disease traceability with changes that respond directly to the feedback we heard,” said the Secretary. “The (new) framework provides the basic tenets of an improved animal traceability capability that will only apply to animals moved in the interstate commerce; be administered by the States and Tribal Nations to provide more flexibility; encourage the use of lower-cost technology; and be implemented transparently through federal regulations and the full rule-making process.”
Secretary Vilsack said one of USDA’s first steps will be to convene a forum with animal health leaders for the States and Tribal Nations to initiate a dialogue about the possible ways of achieving the flexible, coordinated approach to animal disease traceability. An initial meeting with state and tribal animal health officials is planned for March 18 and 19 in Kansas City to being the rule-making process.
“Additionally, USDA will be revamping the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Animal Health to address specific issues such as confidentiality and liability,” said Vilsack. “The Department will also be taking additional actions to further strengthen protections against the entry and spread of disease. These steps will include actions to lessen the risk from disease introduction, initiating and updating analyses on how animal diseases travel into the country, improving response capabilities and focusing on greater collaboration and analyses with States and industry on potential disease risk overall.”
USCA President Jon Wooster said Secretary Vilsack’s comments demonstrate the agency’s responsiveness to producer concerns. “This is welcome news,” said Wooster. “Secretary Vilsack describes a future program that will support animal health officials at the local level, which is where the direction should come from and where control belongs.”
“Fortunately, USCA has been at the table throughout this long and winding process,” continued Wooster. “Despite some criticism, USCA stayed engaged and continued dialogue with the new Administration because we knew that a more common sense approach to animal disease traceback was emerging. While others were clamoring for an absolute de-funding of NAIS, USCA successfully fought for and obtained a significant reduction in the NAIS budget which leaves some funding intact for this new approach to disease prevention and traceback. We appreciate the Secretary’s responsiveness to producers and look forward to working with USDA as this new approach gets underway.”
USCA Vice President Chuck Kiker, Beaumont, TX, participated in a conference call with Secretary Vilsack and other industry groups on February 5. Kiker said there are USCA members who have been working on animal identification issues for over eight years and that it’s extremely encouraging to see USDA be responsive to producers and animal health officials and take a more common sense approach to animal health in the U.S.
“USDA’s new approach, allowing administration of animal health and traceability to be managed by the states and tribal nations with more flexibility, is a breath of fresh air,” said Kiker. “Secretary Vilsack assured us during the February 5 conference call that this program is going to be driven from the ground up, not the top down. It’s now incumbent on producers to remain engaged in the process.”
Secretary Vilsack also said USDA intends to fund the states for the traceability programs developed,” continued Kiker. “President Obama’s 2010 budget provides $14 million for animal identification and trace back. Secretary Vilsack indicated that if more money is needed to implement programs developed by states and tribes the agency will go to Congress, hopefully with producer and industry support, and request whatever additional funds are needed to have an effective system that works. Another encouraging comment made by USDA on the conference call is there is no longer a 48-hour trace back goal. Instead the goal will be effective trace back, whether it involves two days or two weeks. USDA wants to restore producer confidence in the agency and the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association thinks the agency has taken a step in the right direction.” |
