August 19, 2008 

  t is so nice being able to work on projects for the magazine (and myself, as I often write in the magazine about cool stuff that I do at home for me) and I am having a heyday.... and I am sure you will too when you you read about it and just have to try it.

In other news, there was a question on the DTTR forum about if the NAIS was dead.

Again... we need to vote for politicians who have a GOOD agriculture agenda.. not people like this person...

This is the press statement of US Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), chairwoman of the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee from Thursday 19 June 2008.

"We will also strengthen Animal ID and the National School Lunch Program including language to provide market-based incentives to strengthen both the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) and the National School Lunch Program. This proposal would increase participation in the animal ID program. Also, in a case such as the historic Hallmark/Westland beef recall earlier this year, we would know about the history of the animals involved which could help address public health concerns.

Beginning with the 2010 school year (that starts in July 2009), the bill includes language that requires USDA to purchase for the School Lunch Program meat products that are derived from livestock premises registered with National Animal Identification System.

Because AMS is a major purchaser of meat products through the School Lunch Program, this proposal would generate significant market-based incentives to strengthen the department’s voluntary animal ID system and support livestock producers and other premises that signup for USDA’s system.

Importantly, the bill’s purchasing requirements will not take effect until July 2009, the start of the next school year and over a year from now. This will provide time for schools, food vendors, and the livestock industry to prepare the upcoming higher standards.

The public has already made a massive investment in USDA’s NAIS system – $128 million since fiscal year 2004. Why not use the system that the public has paid for to support producers who voluntarily enroll in NAIS and to strengthen the animal traceability capability to provide better assurances for the National School Lunch Program.

The bill provides a total NAIS funding level of $14.5 million or about $4.8 million above 2008.

Congress has provided $128 million to date in good faith to implement NAIS. Unfortunately, APHIS’s delivery has been less than stellar.

•  Out of 1.4 million livestock premises, APHIS has only registered to date about 469,000 premises. That’s less than 33 percent of the agency’s goal after four years. And one state –Wisconsin – comprises about one-eighth of the total nationwide registrations.

•  At APHIS’s current rate of enrolling about 1,500 premises per week, it will take APHIS another 13 years to achieve its goal of 100 percent registration.

•  APHIS reports that it is years away from having 48-hour traceability for beef and dairy cattle.

  The bill does two things.

First, it provides a sizable and reasonable increase in funding about 2008 of $4.8 million.

We are going to move well beyond tracking the number of premises registered and follow more closely how APHIS is using the money. The NAIS milestones include (1) 48-hour traceability standards for specific species; and (2) program administration deliverables.

With regards to Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL), the bill fully supports USDA’s efforts to implement the food labeling law by increasing the Agricultural Marketing Service’s (AMS) budget by $9.6 million to begin administering and auditing COOL.

Importantly, the bill pays for the program by providing an increase in appropriated funding instead of raising fees on food retailers, as the President proposed.

As far as oversight, the bill includes stringent milestones to ensure that USDA remains on track for the remainder of this year so that we will have no excuses – COOL will be fully implemented by September 30, 2008.

Finally, I just want to mention, that we will work closely with the agriculture community, the FDA and USDA on the implementation of the Farm Bill.

In Closing, there is more here and I look forward to working with all of you today, as we move toward full committee, to craft responsible legislation that honors working and middle-class Americans today, and reflects our priorities as a nation. Thank you."

We need to get politicians in.. or sway them.. that the NAIS is a bad idea. It is very common in the States to add an unsavoury bill which will not pass on its own and double it up with another bill, such as this 'School Lunch" program in order to get it passed.