Animal Disease Traceability ADT Information

The USDA announced the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) - National ID - as a voluntary program, and a partnership of the States, industry, producers, and USDA.   The NAIS is strictly for rapid disease response should a disease outbreak occur in the national herd.

There are 3 componets of NAIS:

1) Premise registration  2) animal identification 3) animal tracing

Producers can decide, based on their needs, to participate in one, two or all three NAIS components.

Premise registration is the foundation of NAIS and the USDA reported that more than 335,000 premises are registered.  The benefits of registering a premises is that producers with registered premises identification numbers will be notified quickly in the event a disease outbreak puts their animals at risk.

Premise registration is free and quick; producers may register online, by fax or by mail.  Choosing to register for a premises identification number (pin) does not require producer participation in the other two NAIS components (animal identification and tracking).  However, voluntary participation helps ensure that American producers stay competitive in domestic and international trade.  A number of other countries are already using national animal ID systems to gain a competitive edge in world markets. 

For more information on the voluntary NAIS, go to:

http://animalid.aphis.usda.gov/nais