United States Department of Agriculture officials announced at the ID/INFO Expo 2005 that they are pursuing an industry-funded animal tracking database to trace the movement of animals in the event of a disease outbreak. The privatization of the database raised concerns about funding and security among those in attendance. Agriculture representatives from New Mexico, Colorado, and New York provided updates on their equine identification pilot projects during the Expo, which was held in Chicago, Ill., in September. Current and future identification technologies were also a hot topic.

In May 2005, the USDA drafted a strategic plan for a National Animal Identification System (NAIS). The purpose of the NAIS was to establish a standardized numeric system that allows an animal’s movement within a 48-hour period to be traced. This would allow the animal’s movement to be quickly traced back in the event of a disease outbreak.

“The USDA made it very clear that the industry is going to fund the database,” said Ben Richey, spokesperson for the National Institute for Animal Agriculture (NIAA). “The USDA will not have anything to do with the database’s creation or funding, but they will have the right to access it. The USDA wants a single interface capable of accessing the database.”

The database’s purpose is to allow for limited access to state veterinarians, USDA officials, and state health officials to effectively trace the movements of disease-infected animals within a 48-hour window. The movement database would contain four elements of data (individual animal number, premises number, data, and time of arrival at an event—sale, show, breeding, etc.). The database must be developed and housed by a consortium of all aspects of the livestock industry