OPPORTUNITY TO COMMENT TO THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET


The USDA has published a notice relating to NAIS. This notice is very limited –
USDA is not seeking comments on NAIS in general. Rather, USDA is conducting
“information collection” to support the implementation of NAIS, and has
submitted information on its activities to the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB). The notice includes two information collection programs:

(1) how animal identification numbers are to be assigned to tag manufacturers
and resellers, and

(2) the requirements for entities to apply to participate in managing the
databases.

Even though the scope of comments is limited, you may still wish to use this
opportunity to tell the OMB and your legislators about some of the problems with
NAIS that relate to the tags and databases. Below are some points you may wish
to make. There is no hard deadline, but OMB is encouraging people to submit
comments by August 18.

Discussion Points: (the numbers refer to the OMB’s docket number for each
notice, so that your comments are properly considered)

1. For both dockets: The information collection will not have practical utility
because NAIS cannot legally be implemented. NAIS, as set out in the USDA’s
documents, would violate multiple constitutional provisions, including the 1st,
4th, 5th, and 14th Amendments. Moreover, Congress has not statutorily authorized
the USDA to implement NAIS.

2. For OMB Control Number: 0579-0283. (Information Requirements for Animal
Identification Number Tag Manufacturers, Managers, and Resellers): The AIN
Management System is based on several false assumptions.

a. The first false assumption is that individual identification is necessary and
beneficial.

b. The second false assumption is that the benefits of individual identification
outweigh the costs. An independent, unbiased cost/benefit analysis must be
conducted.

c. The third false assumption is that electronic identification can function to
protect against intentional introduction of disease. The current generation of
microchips has been proven to be susceptible to cloning, hacking, and infection
by computer viruses.

d. Last, the stated preferred technology, ISO 11784/17785 microchips, cannot
provide unique individual identification. The ISO technology is designed to be
reprogrammable, making it both cheap and easy to change ID numbers even after
the microchip has been inserted under the skin of the animal or into a physical
tag. Thus it cannot provide unique, traceable numbers.

3. For OMB Control Number: 0579-0288. (Information Requirements for Private and
State Animal Tracking Database Owners): The USDA’s program creates unethical
conflicts of interests. Entities that are on the working groups developing NAIS
and that are supposed to be representing the public interest can apply to run
private databases. This creates a profit motive that undermines the fairness of
the entire NAIS process.

4. For OMB Control Number: 0579-0288. (Information Requirements for Private and
State Animal Tracking Database Owners): The USDA’s methodology is flawed because
it does not provide any protections against fraud, deceptive trade practices,
unfair bargaining, or other abuses by the private entities contracting with the
government. The public has been left vulnerable to entities enrolling them in
the databases without informed consent, under the guise of a voluntary
government program.

5. For OMB Control Number: 0579-0288. (Information Requirements for Private and
State Animal Tracking Database Owners): USDA’s program is based on false
assumptions because the contracts with private databases have been used to
obscure the true costs of this program and avoid conducting the cost/benefit
analysis that the agency must conduct before adopting regulations.

6. For OMB Control Number: 0579-0288. (Information Requirements for Private and
State Animal Tracking Database Owners): USDA’s methodology is flawed because it
has not developed a practical design for the entire program, including what the
system will and will not address. The piecemeal fashion in which USDA is
implementing NAIS will significantly increase the costs, and perhaps even the
technological viability, of the program.

You can submit comments online to the Desk Officer for Agriculture, Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget (OMB),
OIRA_Submission@OMB.EOP.GOV or fax (202) 395-5806 and to Departmental Clearance
Office, USDA, OCIO, Mail Stop 7602, Washington, DC 20250-7602.

In addition to submitting your comments to the OMB, send them to your
Representative and Senators. If you don't know who they are, go to
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home and enter your zip code in the box on
the left-hand side of the screen. Your official’s contact information will be
provided. We must educate Congress as well as the agency. The USDA and OMB are
secondary, because ultimately Congress controls what happens. So focus your
energy and efforts on your Representatives and Senators, not the agencies.
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