Page 88 - Summer2009

NAIS Update

NATIONAL ANIMAL IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM: COMING TO A BOIL
By Judith McGeary, Esq.

7KH 1DWLRQDO $QLPDO ,GHQWL¿FDWLRQ 6\VWHP injunction to stop the implementation of NAIS
(NAIS) started back in the 1980s with the infor- at both the state and federal levels by any state
mal plans of industrial agriculture groups and or federal agency. If successful, the suit would
technology companies. For newcomers to this halt the program nationwide.
issue, NAIS is a plan to require anyone who owns The lawsuit is still in the early stages, but
even one livestock or poultry animal—even just the Fund has won a couple of initial skirmishes.
a single chicken or a pet horse—to register their In January, in response to the agencies’ motion
property, tag each animal (in most cases with WR GLVPLVV WKH FDVH WKH )XQG VRXJKW WR ¿OH DQ
HOHFWURQLF LGHQWL¿FDWLRQ VXFK DV PLFURFKLSV RU amended complaint to add another plaintiff, a
RFID tags) and report their movements to the Fund member from Pennsylvania, and to ex-
government within twenty-four hours. Most pand on the allegations in its original complaint.
people started to become aware of this issue back 7KH DJHQFLHV RSSRVHG WKH ¿OLQJ EXW WKH &RXUW
LQ ZKHQ WKH 86'$ UHOHDVHG LWV IRUPDO SODQ JUDQWHG WKH )XQG OHDYH WR ¿OH WKH DPHQGHG FRP-
to implement NAIS. plaint. Shortly afterwards, the Fund objected to
In the four years since then, the grass- WKH LQFRPSOHWH DQG VNHZHG UHFRUG ¿OHG E\ WKH
roots has mounted a growing opposition to 86'$ ZKLFK GLG QRW WUXO\ UHÀHFW WKH DJHQFLHV¶
Judith McGeary the program. Five states—Arizona, Kentucky, DFWLRQV RQ 1$,6 7KH )XQG ¿OHG D PRWLRQ WR
is an attorney and Missouri, Nebraska, and Utah—have passed supplement the record which was opposed by the
small farmer in state laws barring mandatory implementation, agencies. The Court partly ruled in the Fund’s
Austin, Texas, while more than a dozen other bills have been favor, granting the Fund’s request to add more
and the Execu- LQWURGXFHG LQ RWKHU VWDWHV DQG JDLQHG VLJQL¿FDQW than a hundred additional government docu-
tive Director of the support. Yet it seems that, as the grassroots op- ments into the formal record, while denying its
Farm and Ranch
Freedom Alliance. position has grown, so has the push to implement request to include non-governmental documents
She has a B.S. in this intrusive and expensive program. Both sides which the Fund contends are relevant.
Biology from have turned up the heat, and the issue may come Neither of these rulings has addressed the
Stanford University to a head soon. merits of the case. The USDA and MDA have
and a J.D. from the ¿OHG QHZ PRWLRQV WR GLVPLVV WKH DPHQGHG FRP-
University of Texas FARM-TO-CONSUMER SODLQW DQG ERWK VLGHV KDYH ¿OHG H[WHQVLYH EULHIV
at Austin. She and LEGAL DEFENSE FUND’S In essence, both agencies argue that Michigan
her husband LAWSUIT TO STOP NAIS is not really implementing NAIS and that, since
run a small
grass-based farm The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund NAIS is “voluntary,” the government does not
with sheep, cattle, is challenging NAIS in the federal district court have to go through any of the regular procedures,
horses, and heritage of DC. The Michigan Department of Agriculture such as analyzing the impacts on small busi-
breed poultry. 0'$ KDV LPSOHPHQWHG WKH ¿UVW WZR VWDJHV RI nesses or the environment. The Fund contends
For more NAIS—property registration and animal iden- that, in practical terms, both MDA and USDA
information about WL¿FDWLRQ²IRU DOO FDWWOH DQG IDUPHUV DFURVV WKH have made NAIS mandatory for thousands of
NAIS and what State under the guise of its bovine tuberculosis people already. It is not clear when the Court
you can do to disease control program. MDA’s implementation will make a decision on these motions, so stay
stop it, go to
www.farmandranch- RI WKH ¿UVW WZR VWHSV RI 1$,6 ZDV UHTXLUHG LQ tuned.
freedom.org or part, in exchange for a grant of money from the
call 1-512-243-9404. USDA. The Fund’s suit asks the court to issue an
86 Wise Traditions SUMMER 2009