|
AUSTIN, -- Rep. Lois W.
Kolkhorst (R-Brenham), in a letter to the Texas Animal Health Commission
(TAHC), has called for a postponement of the planned establishment of an animal
identification system in Texas.
Citing the lack of input from small
producers and a concern over government intrusion and control, Kolkhorst in her
letter wrote, “I respectfully request and strongly urge the TAHC postpone
any implementation of a system until the Legislature can give more concrete
guidelines and the TAHC sought more input from the small producers.”
Leading agriculture trade groups
recently requested that Congress and the Texas Legislature create a strong
identification system as a component of the nation's agricultural
infrastructure.
As a result, the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA) made plans to phase in a system known as the National Animal
Identification System (NAIS).
To accommodate the USDA, Texas lawmakers
passed HB 1361 by Rep. Rick Hardcastle (R-Vernon), chairman of the House
Agriculture Committee, with broad support. Effective last September, the law
enables the Texas Animal Health Commission to establish rules in order to
develop a statewide animal identification program which will be consistent with
the USDA's program.
“The USDA and our Washington leaders felt it
was vital for Texas to eventually develop some type of an animal identification
program,” Kolkhorst said. “The devil is in the details, and we need
more public input from small and mid-size livestock producers before any plan
moves forward.
“It's dangerous to ignore the need for a safe and
healthy food supply, but it's also dangerous to rush into things and give
government too much control over our food sources.”
In developing
the piece of legislation, the Legislature worked closely with industry groups
such as The Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, Texas Cattle
Feeders Association and Texas Farm Bureau, to develop a program that would be
agreeable to all parties, but a backlash has been growing from smaller
independent livestock producers across the state.
“Maybe the Texas
Animal Health Commission needs to scrap this plan and start over,” said
Kolkhorst, a former member of the House Agriculture Committee. “The main
objective should be to develop and implement a comprehensive information system
that will support ongoing animal disease monitoring.
“We
shouldn't have a situation where government creates extra hurdles for the small
producers or drives little guys out of the cattle business so a few players can
run the market. The Texas Animal Health Commission needs to take some time and
listen to the people with five, 10 or 20 head of cattle.
“The big
groups like the Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, Texas
Cattle Feeders Association, and Texas Farm Bureau supported the original bill,
but it seems to me that these groups and TAHC also need to engage our local
agriculture community before anything is written in stone.
“I agree
that State and Federal animal health officials need to respond rapidly and
effectively to animal health emergencies such as foreign animal disease
outbreaks or emerging domestic diseases, but not at the cost of our basic
liberties and freedoms.”
Texas is the leading cattle producing
state in the U.S. For this reason, lawmakers felt it was important to implement
a program to develop an Animal Identification Program to provide for disease
control and enhance the ability to trace disease-infected or exposed
animals.
To address privacy concerns, HB 1361 also outlined restrictions
as to who may have access to the information collected as a part of this
program.
During the 2005 legislative session, the Legislature
directed the TAHC to develop and maintain, at a minimal fee to producers, a
premises database that would contain basic information on a ranch, feedlot or
other livestock facility.
If an animal disease such as foot and
mouth, brucellosis, tuberculosis or BSE were discovered, this system would
assist the agency in determining the location of an infected animal
and any other animals that may have been exposed. Such a database will enable
the TAHC and producers to quickly identify where a diseased animal has been and
take appropriate action.
Currently, TAHC is working only on the
premise registration portion of the program. Although there have been
discussions about an individual animal identification tag as part of the
program, there is not currently any plan to implement mandatory ID
tags.
“We have a situation where the needs of our state's large
agriculture businesses are clashing with the rural independent family farmers.
The TAHC and the public need to work together on this, and I personally think
more time and more facts are needed,” said Kolkhorst.
The number of
animal disease outbreaks that have been reported around the globe over the past
decade has greatly intensified public interest in developing a national animal
identification program for the purpose of protecting animal
health.
The European Union, Canada and Australia already have
similar animal |