KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Cattle industry groups have agreed on 12 principles in the development of a cattle disease traceability identification system and submitted their plan to the USDA.
The organizers representing the beef, dairy, and marketing sectors helped draft the statements during a meeting in Kansas City, Mo. last November. The meeting was organized by the Livestock Marketing Association.
The plan was submitted to Edward Avalos, the undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs, other agriculture agency officials, and members of Congress in December.
The group’s goal is to refocus and enhance the discussion of a national animal identification plan to cattle producers and marketers.
Plan highlights
The plan focuses on minimizing the additional costs to the beef and dairy industry, keeping the cattle identification information confidential and secure, and renewing emphasis on preventing foreign animal diseases. The organizers agreed that an identification plan should be specie-specific due to the diverse methods of raising, marketing, and processing cattle.
The principles also noted the 48-hour foot and mouth disease traceback model is unachievable and the identification system should operate at the speed of commerce.
Further points
In addition, part of the plan also stated the interstate movement identification program and its enhancements should model the brucellosis/tuberculosis surveillance and control program. The plan also stated state animal health officials should continue to have flexibility and discretion in assigning an identifier to the person responsible for the livestock.
Producers
The 12-principle plan also focuses on producers and suggests they be protected from liability for the acts of others after the cattle have left the producer’s control. Under the plan, the producers would have the flexibility to use current or evolving methods of official identification techniques.
The players. Signing the 12-principle statement were the Livestock Marketing Association , American Angus Association, American Farm Bureau Federation, Dairy Farmers of America, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association“>National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, R-CALF USA, Texas Cattle Feeders Association, and the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association.
The complete plan can be found at www.lmaweb.com.
