Backlash building against animal ID system
CANADA - Reaction to the National Animal Identification System is shining a light on a growing problem that independent producers believe is threatening the entire livestock industry.Vertical marketing practices in the meat processing industry, combined with the industry’s access to, and influence on, the Department of Agriculture and Congress, has the small producer against the ropes.
The NAIS may be the final blow that puts independent ranchers and small farmers down for the count.
The goal of the NAIS is to create a national system that would enable the federal government to trace, within 48 hours, the origin of any animal in the food chain found to be infected, either by disease or by terrorists.
To achieve this objective, a massive database has been proposed, that would contain the location of all premises where animals are kept, identification of every individual animal, as well as a method of tracking any movement from the premises location.
Some people fear that a system capable of tracking the movement of every animal in America is a very small step away from applying a similar system to track the movement of every American.
Source: CanadaFreePress
21 March 2006
2 minute read
