The National Animal Identification System (NAIS) will receive no new funding under the 2011 U.S. House of Representatives Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food and Drug Administration Appropriations Subcommittee spending bill, according to Subcommittee chairwoman Rosa L. DeLauro (D-Ct). Last year, the subcommittee also declined to appropriate funds for the program.

The NAIS is a nationwide livestock database designed to help federal and state agencies locate and track the movement of animals in the event of disease outbreaks or natural disasters.

The program uses data from livestock producers and property owners to assign identification numbers to individual animals and to properties where animals are born or reside. Registry participation is voluntary, but the program has failed to attract substantial support among livestock producers.

The NAIS has received $147 million in federal funding since its establishment in 2004. This year the Obama administration sought $14.5 million in appropriations for the program. However, the subcommittee declined to set the revenue aside because, according to DeLauro, the program's administrator, the USDA's Animal and Plant Inspection Service (APHIS) has been unable to implement an effective system that provides needed animal health and market benefits