Washington, D.C. April 14, 2004 - Fifty-two farm, ranch, rural, environmental, faith, and consumer advocacy organizations sent a letter to the U.S. Congress and USDA Secretary Ann Veneman outlining concerns about legislative and regulatory proposals which would fast-track a national animal identification system. The letter cites critical problems found in the U.S. Animal Identification Plan (USAIP), an agribusiness industry proposal to trace livestock from birth to slaughter.

"Consumer confidence in the safety and quality of the U.S. food supply must be established in the wake of last December's mad cow discovery," said George Naylor, Iowa farmer and President of the National Family Farm Coalition, the organization that circulated the sign-on letter. "However, the U.S. Animal Identification Plan as currently proposed misses the mark."

The letter to the USDA and Congress cites major problems with the U.S. Animal Identification Plan. These include:

- The USAIP has no provisions to prevent further introduction of BSE in imported meat, nor foreign animal disease to the U.S. food supply.

- Instead of coordinating, modifying or expanding already existing state animal identification programs, the USAIP creates an entirely new expensive bureaucracy.

- The proposed electronic chip system included in the USAIP carries an estimated price tag of nearly $400 million over a five year period, which doesn't even include administrative costs.

- The USAIP has insufficient privacy controls: access to the data should be limited to those with a legitimate, food-safety use for the information. Under the USAIP, proprietary information could be obtained and used discriminatorily by meatpackers, which would increase corporate control over producers.

- The USAIP would unsuitably allow livestock commodity organizations (most of which have a poor record representing farmers and ranchers) to manage or subcontract animal identification implementation.

- The USAIP could expose family farmers and ranchers to unwarranted liability.

The organizations insist that any animal identification proposal must include country of origin labeling and a means to track imported meat. It should not expand large meatpackers¡¯ ability to unfairly discriminate against farmers, nor should it shift liability from packers, feed and feed supplement suppliers to producers.

A new animal identification system must coordinate and enhance current animal identification programs, rather than duplicating and complicating them. It must be carefully managed and implemented by federal agencies in full partnership with state animal health agencies and tribal governments. The letter urges the USDA and Congress to take sufficient time to construct a plan that maximizes consumer safety while preventing undue economic burden to family farmers and ranchers.