NoNAIS is my effort to spread the word of how harmful the USDA's National Animal Identification System (NAIS) is to small farmers, homesteaders, pet owners & consumers.
Use the comments of this post during this month if you have things you would like to bring to people’s attention and are not sure where else to post them. I’ll make a new Bulletin Board each month for free posting.
Have at it, communicate and keep up the good fight!
Cheers,
-WalterJ
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How can I find out which states have already made an animal registration program mandatory?
Thank you.
Comment Julie in Kansas — December 1, 2008 @ 3:08 pm
Here is a very informative article at newswithviews today, Dec. 3rd by Jeffrey Smith: “Obama’s team includes dangerous biotech “yes men”. Do you know who Michael Taylor is? or Dennis Wolfe? Ever heard of Monsanto….GM foods? Check out this article for interesting information.
Comment The Phantom — December 3, 2008 @ 3:40 am
Got an alert via e-mail from the Weston Price Foundation today. Looked pretty important. Here’s the link to the alert:
Action Alert
I followed the directions and sent an e-mail to the Ag secretary using the template provided.
Comment Jeff — December 3, 2008 @ 8:12 pm
Darrol Dickinson forwarded this link: http://www.ftcldf.org/farm-raids.html from the Farm-To-Consumer Legal Defense Fund on how to deal with government raids on your farm. This looks like a good organization to belong to, if you can afford it, but at $125 per year, it’s a bit much for me.
Comment Pat H — December 6, 2008 @ 11:14 am
I’m not certain if this is posted yet….I don’t see it. But it looks like the State of Ohio is at it again:
Swat Team Conducts Food Raid In Rural Ohio
I would like to know if anyone else can verify this story.
Comment Kristin — December 7, 2008 @ 7:27 am
http://www.change.org/ideas/view/stop_nais
Be sure to go to change.org and add your vote and comment to Stop NAIS. If enough votes are registered, it will be put on the administrations agenda.
Comment Barbara — December 7, 2008 @ 8:46 am
Cattle at the Badger Vac 45 sale, held at Sparta Equity, went from .97 to 1.08 a pound, according to the Country Today. . The math would indicate that an average price of 1.025 was paid. Now plug in the cost of the RFID tags and wait, the price paid was a loss! Combine that with $7500 of wasted tax payer dollars translated into a loss for everyone involved. By participating in the program the producers took less and spent more. Who’s brain dead idea was this anyway? Kansas State University studies showed a loss on source verified cattle four years ago. Isn’t the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
Maybe our state ag committees should spend the money investigating Equity Livestock Co-op’s Monopoly next time, after all research has shown that Wisconsin producers have received less than average prices for the last ten years. Furtherance of the NAIS program will not benefit the consumer or producer. Still have any doubts? Check this article from Australia where full implementation is in place, oh they were promised a premium price also and now receive the second lowest in the world. Just goes to show who our legislature is really working for.
One other thing I sold mine on Dec 5th at Bloomington for 1.05 a pound!!! Without wasting any taxpayer $
Seems as if my signature on the vaccination/ weaning report was all that was necessary. How far will the legislature go to sell out producers in Wisconsin, only time will tell.
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Comment Paul-Martin:Griepentrog — December 7, 2008 @ 1:28 pm
Stop NAIS comments on Change.org
Folks, have you been there yet and made your comments? As of this moment there a 16 comments. 16! Out of the thousands of us, 16 comments.
Here is a chance. Try it! If you want to stop NAIS then tell the President Select what you think about it. Imagine seeing 5 or 10 thousand comments. It is doable but only if you will do it.
Comment Henwhisperer — December 7, 2008 @ 6:21 pm
#5 Kristin…
I am curious about the details to the Manna Storehouse raid as well
Comment LuAnn — December 8, 2008 @ 11:54 am
This is an update on Manna Storehouse.
Have you gone to change.org today? See post #8.
Sharon
Comment Henwhisperer — December 8, 2008 @ 2:11 pm
Manna Storehouse PDFs (Warrant and Police Report:
href=”
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/12/Lorain%20Sheriff’s%20report.pdf “>Police Report
href=”
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/12/_1209165828_001.pdf “>Warrant
Sharon Sabo
IICFA
Comment Mrs. Sabo — December 11, 2008 @ 8:24 am
Bush Administration Rushing to Exempt Big Poultry Producers from Reporting Emissions under Federal Laws
Available studies show that poultry producers in the top ten states emit hundreds of millions of pounds of ammonia a year - more than 8 times the amount released by all other industrial sources combined. Yet the Bush Administration is rushing to exempt these and other large livestock operations from having to report their emissions under federal right to know laws.
More info at:
Factory Chickens and Ammonia
I sent to above link to the Farm to Consumer Foundation. Hopefully the lawyers can make some use of it.
Ammonia emissions contribute to fine particulate (PM2.5) pollution.
Comment Jeff — December 15, 2008 @ 6:41 pm
of curse, it was too goo to be true… it wasn’t long before effluent big ag got their slick ag-spensive lawyers to find a way to buck the system…so now they get an exemption on chicken farts just like they get those individual id group exemptions because….” there are jest so dang many of them little feathery critters running round, how can we know which one farted… besides we can’t count past the NUMBER ONE” as in “looking out for…”!
Comment esbee — December 15, 2008 @ 7:21 pm
NAIS ESWG RECOMMENDATIONS
(It will put me out of the horse business.)
Impact of the ESWG Recommendations on Horse Owners
By Karen Nowak
© March 2007, October 2007, November 2008
The September 2008 NAIS Business Plan states that horses which require either a test for equine infectious anemia or a health certificate for movement off their premises will also be included in Tier 1 (top priority) for NAIS.
On August 1, 2006 the Equine Species Working Group (ESWG) recommended that the current system of maintaining brand inspection records, Certificates of Veterinary Inspection (CVI), VS 127 permits and/or International Certificates of Veterinary Inspection be used in place of movement recording in case trace-back is needed in the event of an animal disease outbreak. They ended this particular recommendation with the following statement: “States and USDA are encouraged to move these forms into an electronic format to expedite retrieval.” This last statement is particularly revealing but first let’s look at what each document is and how this recommendation may impact us as horse owners.
What is a CVI?
A Certificate of Veterinary Inspection (CVI) is an official document, issued and signed by a licensed, accredited veterinarian. The CVI provides documentation that an animal, or a group of animals, was apparently healthy and showed no signs of contagious or communicable diseases on the date the inspection took place. Their original purpose was to prevent the spread of contagious or communicable diseases from one state into another state.
CVI’s are multi-part forms. The owner gets one or two copies, one copy stays at the vet clinic, one is mailed to the State Veterinarian in the state of origin and one copy is mailed to the State Veterinarian’s office in the state of destination. The examining veterinarian records the dates and results of any tests required, and other facts about the animals, including age, breed, sex, vaccination status, and any other details required by the state of destination. The CVI also shows the name and address of the consignor (owner and shipper) and the name and address of the consignee (new owner/receiver; where they’re going) and the reason they are being moved (show, sale, etc).
In the event of a disease outbreak, animal health officials use CVI’s to track the disease back to its source, and forward to potentially exposed animals or people. All states have required a CVI for animals coming from another state for many years, however, a growing number of states either have or are considering requiring that CVI’s be obtained for travel within the state.
When do I need a CVI?
Each state determines the health requirements and rules for CVI’s for animals entering from outside its borders as well as transport within the particular state. In many states, the CVI is valid for 30 days from the date of vet inspection. In others, it is valid for 45 days. The information is obtained from the State Veterinarian’s office.
In addition, horse owners need to carefully read the health requirements for shows or events. Some county and state fairs require a CVI within 10 days of the show/event.
What is a VS 127 permit?
A VS 127 permit is a permit allowing the movement of restricted animals. For example, a VS 127 permit is required to move a horse that tests positive for Equine Infectious Anemia from one location to another.
What is an electronic CVI?
An electronic Certificate of Veterinary Inspection (eCVI) is the same CVI as described above but instead of a handwritten multi-part form, the information is entered into a computer database program developed by GlobalVetLink. The owner/transporter receives a hard (print) copy to carry with them during transport and copies are automatically sent to the State Veterinarian of the originating and destination states via the internet. This system helps the USDA and State Governments meet the mandate of the October 21, 1998 Government Paperwork Elimination Act. In addition, the US Animal Health Association (USAHA) Resolution 12, dated November 1, 2001 stated that the USDA utilize an electronic CVI to document intra and interstate movement of livestock and poultry. This resolution was reaffirmed in 2004. It is worth noting that the co-chair of the USAHA Livestock ID Committee is none other than the founder and president of GlobalVetLink and J. Amelita Facchiano, who was the co-chair of the National Institute for Animal Agriculture (NIAA) Equine ID subcommittee until 2008 and has been a member of the USDA’s Equine Species Working Group since its inception. Ms Facchiano was the Director of Marketing and Sales for GlobalVetLink and now is employed as a member of the USDA Veterinary Services Project Team for implementation of the eCVI program.
The two main benefits of this system are a legible copy for the owner/transporter and an immediate transfer of the information to the respective State Veterinarian offices, instead of the 14 to 30 days it often takes for copies of the handwritten CVI to be received.
These possible benefits are outweighed by the fact that the USDA Veterinary Services Project Team has designed eCVI’s to interface with the NAIS animal tracking database. If the owner has a premises ID and/or the animal has an individual ID, both will be entered on the eCVI. When the tracking databases are fully operational, the eCVI system will send a “sighting report” to the tracking database.
Interstate movement refers to animals traveling from one state to another. Intrastate movement refers to animals traveling within the state. Imagine the burden and expense if a CVI is needed for travel within your state! Every show, event, trip to the vet or farrier would require a CVI. Would the Amish and commercial carriage drivers need a CVI every 30 days? How is this recommendation any different from the original recommendation that all movements be reported to the database for NAIS? The answer is that it is NOT, IF the requirement for CVI’s is changed to intrastate movement. The ESWG recommendation is yet another example of a “feel good” statement designed to fool horse owners.
Last, some states now require a premises ID to obtain an eCVI. Some also require animal ID. If you are a resident of one of those states, your ability to show or ship a horse will require you to participate in NAIS. This certainly negates the USDA’s claim that NAIS is “voluntary with a capital V”!
GlobalVetLink eCVI participating states, as of October 2008:
Arizona, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming.
However, eCVI’s are now accepted in all 50 states. Veterinarians may subscribe directly to the GlobalVetLink service if their state does not have a specific agreement with GlobalVetLink. GlobalVetLink now has a webpage for horse owners:
http://globalvetlink.com/about/animal-owners/
Equine Interstate Passport Card/Equine Event Extension Form
Several states adopted a cost-effective solution for competitors who travel frequently with their horses to shows/events in other states. The Equine Event Extension program is designed to extend a CVI from 30 days to 6 months. AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, VA & WVA signed agreements to accept these extensions from each other. Other states may be added in the near future. Florida has developed a laminated card, named an interstate passport card, in place of the form. Competitors must check with the state veterinarian’s office for those states they plan to travel to as requirements and restrictions are not consistent from state to state. For example, LA requires permanent ID of horses via microchip, brand or tattoo. Other states will accept digital photographs as proof of identity. If a horse is identified by microchip, the owner/transporter MUST travel with a microchip scanner to verify identity when traveling in FL, GA, KY, NC, OK and VA. In all other states, if a microchip is used as means of identification, equine owner MUST provide regulatory authorities immediate access to a functional scanner if requested. In other words, even if the regulations do not specifically state a scanner must be carried at all times, you WILL need to carry one if your horse is identified via microchip.Premises ID IS required in all states participating in this system.
You must still carry your Coggins results (VS form 10-11) and the original health certificate (CVI) with you in addition to the Equine Passport Card/Event Extension Form. Competitors must check with the state veterinarian’s office for those states they plan to travel to as requirements for date of Coggins test varies from state to state.
Equine owners carrying an equine event permit will also be required to carry an accurate, up-to-date event itinerary that documents each equine movement. A copy of the form used for NC is included below.
Violators of any requirement of the passport program are subject to the laws of the state where the violation occurs and may range from immediate return of the state of origin to revocation of passport and civil penalties or criminal prosecution.
Upon permit expiration, the complete travel itinerary must be forwarded to the office of the State Veterinarian issuing the permit.
Since the ESWG does not mention the Equine Interstate Passport Card or Equine Event Extension Forms in their recommendation, it is not clear whether these will be accepted for tracking purposes should NAIS be implemented. Horse owners who currently utilize these forms or card are advised to keep abreast of this issue as showing in other states will become a very expensive proposition should a 30 day CVI be mandated through NAIS.
“GoPass” Electronic Equine Interstate Passport
In June 2008, Global VetLink launched an electronic version of the Equine Interstate Passport Card. Veterinarians in the state of Washington are approved to issue GoPass certificates for horses entering California, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Idaho. The second phase is a group of south central states: Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. GoPass will dovetail nicely into the requirements for NAIS tracking!
http://arkansasanimalproducers.8k.com/whats_new_54.html
Comment Pat H — December 17, 2008 @ 8:39 am
Two items of importance. Look at r-calfusa (dot com) at the left sidebar and hit on “newsreleases” for their 2 page letter to Sec. of Ag, Ed Schafer (12-5-08), sent cerified mail, for him to answer 10 questions on Nais and premises registration, etc….requests answers within 20 days…It is excellent!Also, Farfa has an action alert…I found it at Missourians against Nais, message #4525 on contacting our congress “people” again, re: Nais and $$$ appropriations; and proposed organic rules….
Comment The Phantom — December 18, 2008 @ 7:04 am
R-CALF’s letter to Sec. Shafer asks questions that definitely need to be answered. God love em. If you haven’t already done it, please download copies of their petition and get some signatures on it. It really doesn’t take much time or effort to get friends, family, neighbors, etc. to sign it. Let’s help R-CALF fight NAIS, and give them lots of signatures to show their is more opposition than the USDA estimates.
By the way, I wonder if the USDA will actually respond to the questions.
Comment eileen — December 18, 2008 @ 8:24 pm
The deadline to make comments re: moving Plum Island Research Facility from Plum Island (off shore from NY) to Manhatten, Kansas is Jan. 12, 2009. For more info. go to List Discussions at the right sidebar here, and hit on Missourians against Nais; go to message No. 4539. Sharon Z. has a good letter to them at message No. 4540 (This is my 3rd attempt; hope you do not get multiple posts on this…happy holidays to all)
Comment The Phantom — December 23, 2008 @ 5:29 am
While looking at campaignforliberty this website was recommended: maplight.org as it shows the link between money and politics. I looked at the agriculture bills and found HR 2301, The Livestock and Marketing Opportunities Act introduced May 14, 2007 by Steve King (R-Iowa) which is to: Establish a Livestock Identification Board to create and implement a national Livestock Identification System…. a comment by someone mentioned that “they found this interesting as HR 1018 was introduced prohibiting a mandetory system…Anyway, this is an excellent website…and I find it interesting that the person picked to be the next Sec of Ag is from Iowa (governor, I believe)… These people never quit trying on this nais stuff, do they? This website will help us “follow the money”.
Comment The Phantom — December 23, 2008 @ 7:36 am
Today is the Most TERRIBLE Day in the History of Farming
“For today the state of Wisconsin at the behest of the USDA drags an Amish farmer named Emmanuel Miller to court for obeying his religious principles.
Perhaps this moment will begin to intimate how the USDA has been operating and why the head of the USDA has become not a political choice but actually life and death for American farmers.
Mr. Miller is due in court today, this Wed. Dec. 17th, at 3:00 pm, at the Clark County Court House, 517 Court St. Neillsville, WI, for his initial court appearance….”
Source: fourwinds10
Comment Snazy snezy — December 25, 2008 @ 1:25 pm
At campaignforliberty today, there is a newsrelease from R-calf posted that showed that USDA/APHIS , on Dec. 22, 2008 cancelled memorandum #575.19 done on Sept. 22, 2008 which mandated premise registration…etc. I could not find the news release at R-calf yet, but it will be up soon. Til then, check out the entire news item by R-calf at campaignforliberty….
Comment The Phantom — December 30, 2008 @ 8:01 am
Phantom, the USDA’s cancellation notice is now up at R-CALF, just scroll down a little under the animal id news.
Great news, thanks for the tip. Does this mean the USDA will probably not answer R-CALF’s 10 questions on NAIS?
Comment eileen — December 30, 2008 @ 6:49 pm
I happen to come across this website for the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) and thought it might be of interest. They have a stated position in support of Animal ID, but the position does not seem to say if they support or oppose mandatory participation. But it does show the state departments of agriculture are taking a stance even if it happens to be in opposition to the sance taken by their home state’s legislature.
NASDA’s Position on animal ID is on page 14 of this pdf
Comment afella — January 13, 2009 @ 12:57 pm