House Agriculture Committee Reviewing National Animal
Identification System  Hearing will examine progress made by the
program.  Published on: Mar 10, 2009  On Wednesday the House
Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry will
hold a public hearing the National Animal Identification System.
USDA has received over $100 million dollars since the program
was formed in 2004 and the purpose of the hearing is to see what
USDA has done with that money and what they have gotten in
return. A senior aide to the House Ag Committee says it will be
a general overview looking at how many premises have been
registered and if there has been an improvement in the prospect
of trace back in the event of a disease outbreak.  Formed in
2004, NAIS was a voluntary program that then-Ag Secretary Ann
Veneman proposed move toward a mandatory program. When former Ag
Secretary Mike Johanns took office in 2005 he favored keeping it
a voluntary program. House Ag Committee Chairman Collin
Peterson, D-Minn., has been a stron