Florida Animal Identification Program

Updated October 21, 2006

Florida is currently participating in the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) through the US Department of Agriculture. The purpose of animal identification is to enable disease tracking with 48-hours, thus establishing rapid trace-back ability within the food chain. This may enable animal and human medical personnel to discover the source and isolate outbreaks, for instance, of such diseases as foot-and-mouth or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE or “mad cow”), and begin immediate treatment.

The program, participation in which is voluntary at this time, has three phases: premises identification, animal identification and animal tracking. By 2008, individual animal identification may become mandatory for certain food-chain animals crossing state lines.

According to Florida NAIS Program Coordinator Stephen Monroe (monroes@doacs.state.fl.us), as of October 15, 2006, more than 3,400 Florida premises have registered, covering about 85 percent of all cattle in the state. Pilot projects to demonstrate practical applications of new identification technologies have included tracking of 17,000 calves shipped to Texas and Kansas feedlots, and both “cull cow” and Seminole Tribe cattle segments.

Animal identification is still controversial as program partners have many questions, such as differences in treatment between small and large producers (individual versus group tags).

Florida’s animal identification program is administered through the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/ai/adc/adc_nais.shtml. (A different perspective may be gained by reading commentary posted at www.nonais.org.)

Under the National Animal Identification System, all animals entering the food chain would be traceable to their origins. (Photo courtesy VisitFlorida.com)