The Ohio
Department of Agriculture is taking the first step in implementing the NAIS
by encouraging Ohio’s livestock and poultry industries
to voluntarily register all premises (farms, markets,
concentration points, exhibitions, packing/processing
plants, and other locations) that produce, manage
or hold livestock.
National Questions:
01. What is national animal identification?
02. Why do we need national animal
identification?
03. What are the three steps to a
national animal identification system?
04. What do these three steps of
national identification mean?
05. What is the USAIP?
06. What is the USAIP's goal?
07. USAIP FAQ's
08. What is the NAIS?
09. How did this effort start?
Premises Questions:
10. How do I register a premise?
11. Does registering my premises
increase my liability?
12. When should I register my premises?
13. What is a premises?
14. Single premises or multiple premises
registration for a single operation with multiple sites?
15. Does signing up my premises obligate
me to participate in the next steps?
16. How secure is the database?
17. How does premises registration
affect county fairs?
18. What species are included?
19. Are horses included in this effort?
20. What will this premises ID be
used for?
21. What if my information changes? For
example, I get another species on my farm or change my
phone number?
Animal ID Questions:
22. What exactly do you mean by animal
identification?
23. What exactly do you mean by animal
tracking?
Species Specific Questions:
24. Sheep producers: Do I need
to register my premises if I already have a Scrapie number?
25. Do dogs and cats count?
01. What
is national animal identification?
National Animal
Identification is a system with
an established set of standards and defined data
elements. It
allows for the compatibility of other identification
systems while providing efficient availability of
agreed-to information across each segment of the
animal agriculture industry. The establishment
of standards allows the overall system to support
both marketing and regulatory functions. However,
production data is maintained and controlled separate
from information required for regulatory animal health
programs.
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02. Why
do we need national animal identification?
National animal identification is needed to maintain
the health of our nation's livestock industry by
supporting the monitoring, control and eradication
of domestic and emerging diseases, or protecting
against the introduction of a foreign animal disease. It
will also help maintain access to our global markets
and maintain consumer confidence.
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03. What
are the three steps to a national animal identification
system?
The three major steps in the United
States Animal Identification Plan (USAIP) for the National Animal Identification System
(NAIS) are:
1. Premises Registration
2. Animal Identification
3. Animal Tracking
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04. What
do these three steps of national identification
mean?
The first step is premises identification. It
is necessary to know the sites where animals are
produced, transfered through, and intermingled with
other animals if effective trace back is to be accomplished.
The second step will be individual
animal identification, in which the US Animal Identification
Number (USAIN) will be "tied"
or linked to the premises through an information system. The
need to associate the animal number to the premises is
the critical component that provides the information
to record animal movements. The phase-in approach
will use a 48-hour trace back system requiring several
years to implement.
The third step will be animal tracking. This
will record animal movement from premises to premises. Service
provider will assist producers in tracking.
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05. What
is the USAIP?
The United
States Animal Identification Plan (USAIP) defines the
standards and framework for implementing and maintaining
a phased-in national animal identification system for
the United States.
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06. What
is the USAIP's goal?
The USAIP's goal is to achieve a trace back system that
can identify all animals and premises potentially exposed
to an animal with a Foreign Animal Disease (FAD) within
48 hours after discovery.
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07. USAIP
FAQ's
The United States Department of Agriculture provides
valuable answers to the most Frequently
Asked Questions regarding
the National Animal Identification System.
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08. What
is the NAIS?
The National
Animal Identification System (NAIS)
is a national program intended to identify all food
animals and livestock, as well as record their movement
over the course of their lifespan. The U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) is committed
to designing a comprehensive animal identification
system that will allow for the tracing of all animals
and premises potentially exposed to a foreign animal
disease within 48 hours to ensure rapid containment
of the disease and further protect U.S. animal health.
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09. How
did this effort start?
Maintaining the health of the U.S. livestock industry
is the focus of industry and government groups addressing
national animal identification. Over 30 industry
organizations participated in the National Identification
Task Force in 2002, helping prepare the National
Identification Work Plan (NIWP).
The Task Force established a goal
to have the capability to locate all premises with
direct contact to foreign animal disease within 48
hours after discovery. In early 2003, the USDA established
the U.S. Animal Identification Steering Committee and
Development Team to complete the NIWP. The
results of the ID Development Team, the U.S. Animal
Identification Plan (USAIP), were presented at the
United States Animal Health Association Meeting in
October 2003.
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10. How
do I register a premise?
You can register your livestock premises by clicking here,
or if you prefer, you can call Ohio Department of
Agriculture at (614) 728-6220 to request a form.
The first step to premises registration is to set
up an account. The account will be used to manage all
three steps of animal identification (premises, animal
identification, and animal tracking). An account
allows you to access various functions, controls,
and applications related to your livestock information.
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11. Does
registering my premises increase my liability?
Registering your premises does not increase your liability;
instead, it actually provides you with a level of protection
for your investments.
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12. When
should I register my premises?
There is no better time to register your livestock
premises, whether it's a farm, a production site,
a feed yard, or a livestock market. The longer we wait to get
this system into place, the greater the price we may
all have to pay someday for not doing the right thing
now. Click here to
register.
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13. What
is a premises?
National Definition: "A
premises is an identifiable physical location that,
in the judgment of the State Animal health Official
or Area Veterinarian in Charge, and when appropriate
in consultation with the affected producer, represents
a unique and describably geographic entity (where
activity affecting the health and/or traceability
of food producing animals may occur) or represents
the producer contact location when extensive grazing
operations exist." - (Section
III.A.1, USAIP)
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14. Single
premises or multiple premises registration
for a single operation with multiple
sites?
One premises registration
characteristics:
- Difficult to identify specific origin of animal(s)
during traceback.
- More difficult to track movement between specific
premises.
- Fewer premises IDs to manage.
- Quarantine will likely involve all locations.
Multiple premises registration characteristics:
- Rapid and specific identification of animal(s) origin
during traceback.
- Easier to capture movements between premises.
- More premises IDs to manage.
- Facilitates individual premises quarantines for multi-premises
operations.
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15. Does signing
up my premises obligate me to participate in
the next steps?
Signing up your premises or location does not obligate
you to participate in the next steps of the initiative,
which are animal identification and animal tracking. ODA
encourages you to understand what is involved and
make the best business decision for your operation.
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16. How
secure is the database?
Your information will be held private in a secure
database. In
addition, you hold control of your personal information
by establishing your own user name and password. You
have control over your account and information. In
the event of a disease outbreak or a public safety
emergency, the legislation does allow the USDA AVIC
and/or State Veterinarian access to the data. Other
individuals can only access the data if you give
them permission.
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17. How
does premises registration affect
county fairs?
A county fair grounds is included in the Premises
Registration. The
fair board, the manager of the livestock projects or
the owner of the land may register the premises. The
key item needed is a primary contact that is knowledgeable
of the animals on the fair grounds.
In the event of an animal disease outbreak, the primary
contact will be contacted by animal health officials. The
premises ID stays with the fair grounds and is not event
specific. If other livestock events are occurring
on that premises, at this point they are not obligated
to do anything more then be knowledgeable of that Premises
ID. When the national and Ohio efforts get
to the steps of animal ID and animal tracking there
may or may not be increased responsibility of the
event coordinators.
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18. What
species are included?
- Bovine (bison, cattle)
- Equine (horses, donkeys, mules, ponies)
- Goats
- Poultry (chickens, turkeys, geese, ducks, guinea
fowl, and squab)
- Captive game birds (pheasants, quail, wild turkeys,
migratory wildfowl, pigeons, and exotic birds)
- Sheep
- Swine (other than wild hogs but including pot
belly pigs)
- Cervid (deer, elk, moose, caribou, reindeer)
- Camelids (llamas, alpacas)
- Ratites (rheas, ostiches, emu, cassowary, kiwi)
- Fish (aquaculture)
Not included:
19. Are horses
included in this effort?
Yes, equine are included in the NAIS. (National
Equine ID Committee through the USAIP.)
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20. What
will this premises ID be used
for?
Eventually, a farmer will need a premises ID to obtain/purchase
official ID devices/tags and report on movement permits
for interstate transport.
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21. What
if my information changes? For
example, I get another species
on my farm or change my phone
number?
The Ohio Department of Agriculture
encourages you to be good stewards of your
premises and contact us with
any changes. If you registered
on-line simply log back into
your account and make the necessary
changes. If the change
is over looked, the annual renewal
process will catch these changes
in the future.
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22. What
exactly do you mean by animal identification?
Animal identification links each animal with a number
and then links that number to a registered premises.
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23. What exactly
to you mean by animal tracking?
Animal tracking is the final step and consists
of recording animal movements from one premises to another.
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24. Sheep Producers: Do
I need to register my premises if I already have
a scrapie number?
Yes, you do. At this point, the numbers are separate. For
now, register your premises and continue to use your
scrapie premises number for the scrapie program. Eventually
only one number will be needed.
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25. Do dogs
and cats count?
No. This is a livestock (cattle,
bison, swine, sheep, goats, horses, poultry, deer,
elk, and llamas) initiative for producers.
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For more questions, visit USDA's
Animal Identification FAQ page.
