05/16/05 N.A.I.S. and NW Pilot Project

05/16/05 N.A.I.S. and NW Pilot Project

The timing for U.S.D.A.'s announcement earlier this month on a draft plan and timeline for a National Animal Identification System played into the hands of a regional animal I.D. symposium set for tomorrow in Boise. The event is sponsored by the Northwest Pilot Project, a seven-state coalition created to form a regional animal I.D. system. Now many involved with the Northwest Pilot Project say the announcement and position of U.S.D.A. regarding N.A.I.S. has been expected for some time, and really was not a surprise. But having said that, Rick Stott of the Pilot Project believes U.S.D.A. is headed in the right direction. STOTT: We're pleased in the position that they are taking related to identification systems, identification method. They've really said, you know what, we're open to a lot of different methods, meaning group lot or individual animal I.D. or E.I.D. tags will be the preference, but we're open to other methodologies as well, which is what they've been saying all along but we're pleased that their official document came out to support that concept. So will U.S.D.A.'s announcement change how the Northwest Pilot Project has planned, or does plan, to do things? Scott Holt of the Pilot Project says the announcement may not even be the most significant aspect of tomorrow's symposium. HOLT: Our project from the start was to find some solutions to producer questions about I.D. to open up communication from state to state, especially for operations that operate multi-state and cross state lines in some of their grazing issues & that kind of thing. But at the end of the day, it hasn't really changed the structure or the focus of the meeting itself. We hope to address some of those things from a national standpoint. But it certainly is just a piece of a bigger puzzle. Holt and others say they are glad there is a suggested timeline in place to implement N.A.I.S., and that the Northwest Pilot Project and similar groups will have time to comment on the draft plan. U.S.D.A. will accept comment through June Sixth. But right now, one of the main points of focus for the Northwest Pilot Project's participating states is implementing their ability to allocate their own premises numbers as part of their state animal I.D. systems. HOLT: Basically, what we want to do is have a forum for these state agencies to state their position with regards to premise allocation, their definition of a premise, and where they are at in each state on step one of the National I.D. process of establishing a premise allocation system.
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