FAQ Answers |
| View answers to Frequently Asked Questions in the following categories: |
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| Premises Registration |
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| Q. What is premises registration? |
| A. Premises registration is an effort to establish a complete record of all locations in the United States where livestock and/or poultry are raised, held, or boarded. If you choose to register your premises, the basic contact information you provide ensures that you will be notified quickly when a disease event might put your premises and your animals at risk. |
| While premises registration is a part of NAIS, it is independent of the other two program components (animal identification and animal tracing). Choosing to register your premises in no way obligates you to participate in the rest of NAIS. |
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| Q. What is a premises? |
| A. In general, a premises is a location where livestock and/or poultry are raised, held, or boarded. Examples would include farms, ranches, markets, exhibitions, and slaughtering facilities. |
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| Q. Am I required by law to register my premises? |
| A. NAIS is a voluntary program at the Federal level. You are not required by USDA to register your premises. Individual States may choose to keep premises registration voluntary or not, based on local needs. USDA strongly believes that the best approach to premises registration is a voluntary system led by the States. |
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| Q. Why should I register my premises? |
| A. In an animal health emergency, no one can help you protect your animals if they don't know you are there. The basic contact information provided during premises registration opens the lines of communication between producers and animal health officials. Registering your premises means that you will be alerted quickly when there is a potential disease threat to your animals. You then have the information and assistance you need to take action and protect your animals and your investment. |
| Besides - registering your premises is free. It's a quick and simple process. And Federal law protects individuals private information and confidential business information from disclosure. For more good reasons to register your premises, click here. |
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| Q. How do I register my premises? |
| A. You can voluntarily register your premises by contacting your State or Tribal NAIS Administrator for the appropriate form. Click here for contact information. Premises registration forms are also available on each State's department of agriculture Web site. You may opt to register your premises online, or by mailing or faxing the form to your NAIS contact. |
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| Q. What information do I have to provide to register my premises? |
A. When registering your premises, you will be asked to provide the following information:
- Name of the entity
- Appropriate contact person
- Street address/city/state/zip code
- Contact phone number
- Operation type (production unit, market, exhibition, slaughter plant, etc.)
- Alternative phone number(s)
This is the basic contact information USDA recommends for registering premises. However, premises registration is carried out at by the States and Tribes. Each may have their own additional information requests for premises registration, based on local needs.
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| Q. Can I discontinue participation in NAIS after I register my premises?
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| A. NAIS continues to be a voluntary program at the Federal level, and has established a procedure for premises registration removal. Because individual States and Tribes are responsible for registering premises, requests for such a removal must be submitted through your State animal health official or State NAIS administrator, who will decide whether to authorize the request.
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| Animal Identification |
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| Q. What is animal identification? |
| A. Animal identification is the second component of the voluntary NAIS. Whether individual or group/lot, animal identification provides producers with a uniform numbering system for identifying their animals. The individual animal identification number (AIN) is unique and stays with the animal for its lifetime. This number links the animal to its premises of origin; when combined with animal tracing, the AIN also links the animal to each premises/location that has been reported for it. |
| Animal identification offers a valuable tool for producers and owners whose animals enter commercial production, or move to locations where they come into contact with animals from multiple/other premises. |
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| Q. Am I required to participate in animal identification if I choose to register my premises? |
| A. No. Choosing to register your premises does not obligate you to participate in the other components of NAIS.
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| Q. Does NAIS allow for animals to be identified as a group? |
| A. If your animals "stay together" and are raised as a group, and travel through the production chain that way, you may want to consider group/lot identification, rather than individual identification. When animals "stay together" as a group, individual identification of each animal in the group is not necessary because it does not enhance disease response efforts. |
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| Q. How can I purchase official Animal Identification Number (AIN) tags or devices? |
| A. In order to purchase AIN devices, you should first determine if the type of identification devices you prefer are available. To obtain AIN devices, you will need to register your premises, since you will be asked to provide a Premises Identification Number (PIN) when you purchase your AIN devices. |
| You can then contact an authorized AIN device manufacturer for the AIN device managers and resellers in your area. When you purchase the devices, you will provide your Premises Identification Number (PIN). Once the PIN is confirmed to be correct, the managers or resellers will ship the AIN devices to you. |
| A list of AIN manufacturers is available here. Click on the "List ID Devices" link in the left sidebar. Authorized AIN tags will have "NAIS" listed in the "Approval Status" column. |
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| Animal Tracing |
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| Q. What is animal tracing?
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| A. Animal tracing is the third component in voluntary NAIS and is under development by the States and private sector. Once complete, voluntary animal tracing will offer an additional option to improve animal management and better protect animal health. Producers will be able to choose an animal tracking database (owned and operated by private industry groups or States) and report certain animal movements that might pose a significant risk of disease transmission. |
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| Q. What benefit does animal tracing provide? |
| A. When there is a disease outbreak or other animal health event, the animal tracking databases provide timely, accurate records that show where your animals have been and what other animals have come into contact with them. This information makes it easier for producers, States, industry, and USDA to determine the scope of a disease situation and locate infected animals. It also ensures that you receive accurate information about where a disease event is occurring and where it is headed. |
| In addition to protecting livestock, a producer who chooses to participate in the animal identification and animal tracing components of NAIS may use the same methods of identification and information reporting to support source and/or age verification programs. This offers a strategic advantage in a highly competitive market. |
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| Background and General |
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| Q. I received a survey in the mail from the National Agricultural Statistics Service. It appears to be about NAIS. What is this? |
| A. Every five years, the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS)
conducts a Census of Agriculture. In order to prepare a complete and
accurate mailing list for the Census, NASS mails the "National
Agricultural Identification Survey" (NAIS) to possible farming and
ranching operations in the United States. This survey helps ensure that
these operations receive a Census form in the mail at the end of the
year. 2007 is a Census year. |
| This survey has nothing to do with the National Animal Identification System.
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| Q. Who is participating in this survey? How did NASS obtain my name? |
| A. The 2007 Agricultural Identification Survey was sent to more than a
million individuals and organizations. Names were obtained from a
variety of sources, and surveys were sent when one or more of the
sources indicated that an individual was involved in agriculture.
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| Q. Is this survey part of or related to the National Animal Identification System?
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| A. No. Again, there is no relationship between the two programs.
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| Q. Will NASS share the results of its survey with APHIS, or forward
information to the National Animal Identification System's databases?
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| A. No. The information collected by the NASS survey and census is safeguarded by multiple measures to protect confidentiality. Only specific NASS employees have access to survey data. |
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Federal law requires your knowledge and consent for NASS to release any
data about you or your operation. |
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| Q. Will APHIS share its National Animal Identification System information with NASS? |
| A. Federal Law protects a producer's private information and confidential business information from disclosure. As a result, APHIS cannot share much of its NAIS information. In addition, APHIS houses only a limited amount of basic contact information in its NAIS premises registration database. This information is insufficient for the purposes of NASS' survey. |
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| Q. Many animals are already identified through disease control programs - so why do we need NAIS? |
| A. There are a number of animal health programs that include an animal identification component (i.e., cooperative eradication programs for brucellosis and scrapie). And many States have information systems in place to locate at-risk animals and premises in the case of a disease outbreak or other animal health event. But these systems are not uniform in nature or connected, and they do not apply to all livestock species and diseases. NAIS - a modern, streamlined information system - enables producers and first responders to address any disease situation affecting any segment of animal agriculture in our country. And it allows for more rapid, coordinated, and efficient disease response. |
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| Q. Why is it important to quickly find potentially exposed premises and animals? |
| A. The more quickly potentially exposed premises and animals are located, the more quickly a disease can be contained. The length of time it takes to gain control over a disease event dictates the extent of the economic losses, market closures, and other social harms it causes. In other words, time is money - for everyone involved. |
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| Q. Will my private information be protected? |
| A. Federal law protects individuals’ private information and confidential business information from disclosure. Furthermore, USDA maintains only limited premises registration information and will not have direct access to animal identification or movement records. If USDA needs animal movement and location information to respond to an animal health emergency, data will be requested from the private and State databases where it is held. |
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| Myths and Facts |
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| Myth: There are fines for producers who do not register in NAIS. |
| Fact: Participation in NAIS is voluntary at the Federal level. There are no Federal penalties or other "enforcement" mechanisms associated with the program. You will not be penalized by USDA at all if you choose not to participate in the program. |
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| Myth: USDA wants to identify every animal in the United States, including pets, for NAIS. |
| Fact: The focus of NAIS is animal agriculture - livestock and/or poultry. Owners of the following species would benefit from and are encouraged to participate: cattle and bison; poultry; swine; sheep; goats; cervids (deer and elk); equines (horses, mules, donkeys, burros); and camelids (llamas and alpacas). Household pets (cats and dogs) are not included. |
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| Myth: USDA wants to identify and track the movement of all livestock in the United States for NAIS. |
Fact: Attempting to record all animals and movements is not practical, and that is not the intent with NAIS. Rather, the intent with NAIS is to prevent disease spread. The only animals recommended for identification are those that are moved from their premises to locations where they "commingle", or come into contact with, animals from multiple/other premises. Due to the nature of their movements, these animals may pose a significant risk of disease transmission or have a greater impact on the spread of a potential disease. Animals with a "lower-risk" of, or "lower-impact" on, disease spread are not the focus of NAIS.
For example, the following situations are not applicable to NAIS: |
- Livestock that never leave the premises of their birth, even if they move from pasture to pasture within that premises, do not need to be identified
- Animals that never leave their premises other than when they "get out"
- Animals that are only moved directly from their birth premises to custom slaughter
- The participation of animals in local trail rides
- The movement of animals to small local parades or fairs (Many local fairs and similar events may have their own animal identification requirements that are not affected by NAIS. You should check with animal health officials or event organizers for any such existing requirements.)
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| Myth: USDA will use the NAIS to provide "real-time" government surveillance of livestock. |
| Fact: NAIS is not a "real-time" tracking system for animals. There is no constant or continuous observation of animals; comments implying otherwise are simply untrue. Rather, animal movement records will be established when the owner or caretaker of the animal chooses to report such information. This animal location and movement data will be held in multiple, secure databases managed by private industry groups and the States. Animal health officials will only request access to animal movement and location records in the case of a disease outbreak or other animal health event (such as an outbreak of avian influenza or brucellosis). |
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| Myth: Producers can no longer provide comments or feedback regarding the NAIS. |
| Fact: NAIS continues to evolve to meet producer demands, and participant input to the program is critical. USDA has established an email address for NAIS, animalidcomments@aphis.usda.gov, and always welcomes comments. Comments can also be provided by clicking here. |
| APHIS and its State and industry partners have also created NAIS Species Working Groups to provide the species-specific, ground-level information that is necessary to create an effective system. These groups represent another important avenue for people to provide input and help shape the development of NAIS. Producers, animal owners, and other stakeholders can submit comments to their Species Working Group through the NAIS Web site by clicking here. |
| As leaders in the development and implementation of NAIS, State and Tribal NAIS Administrators also welcome input on the program. Click here for your State or Tribe's contact information. |
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| Last Modified: 4/25/2007 |
