Joelle Schelhaus, public affairs specialist with the US Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said under the NAIS Business Plan, strategy No. 3, APHIS has the authority to require NAIS-compliant identification numbers.
R-CALF officials requested the NAIS-compliant order be withdrawn, and sent copies of their letter to Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee, and Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., who chairs the House Agriculture Committee, as well as the ranking members of each committee, the release said. Additionally, animal health officials in each state received a copy.
Previously, the states issued the ID numbers for the disease-eradication programs, which were kept in a large database, but the lack of a centralized numbering system became problematic with things like duplicate numbers, the business plan said.
If a producer wants to opt out of the NAIS, a location identifier is given that is used only for that disease eradication or control program, Schelhaus said.
In a release, R-CALF USA said APHIS' action was implemented without public notice or opportunity for comment, as required by the Administrative Procedure Act.
By Lester Aldrich, Dow Jones Newswires
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