USDA issues animal ID eartags for bovine TB control effort

TSCRA Daily News Update, April 18, 2008

USDA issues animal ID eartags for bovine TB
control effort

USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced April 15 that it is providing National Animal Identification System (NAIS) compliant "840" radio frequency eartags to animal health officials for use in the bovine tuberculosis (TB) control program.

The effort is part of USDA's Business Plan to Advance Animal Disease Traceability.

NAIS-compliant "840" tags provide for individual identification of livestock through a 15-digit number beginning with the U.S.country code. Through the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, the "840" tags allow animal health officials to electronically identify an animal.This increases the efficiency of animal disease investigations.

USDA has purchased a total of 1.5 million "840" identification tags to support animal disease control programs, including the bovine TB and brucellosis programs.

Radio frequency tags have been used in beef and dairy operations for management and marketing purposes for several years.

Currently, there are five USDA-approved manufacturers that produce eight devices for official NAIS use. Seven of these devices are RFID eartags, while the other device is an injectable transponder to be used in horses and other farm animals not intended to enter the food production chain.

For more information, go to www.usda.gov/nais.