SECRETARY KAWAMURA URGES ATTENDANCE AT USDA LISTENING SESSION FOR NATIONAL ANIMAL IDENTIFICATION PROGRAM

Forum scheduled for July 10 in Lodi

 SACRAMENTO – CDFA Secretary A.G. Kawamura is urging the livestock and poultry industries to attend a USDA listening session in Lodi on July 10, 2004, at 9:30 a.m. The location will be Crete Hall at Hutchin Street Square, 125 S. Hutchin Street. The forum, the only one scheduled in California, will include discussion of the development, structure and implementation of a national animal identification program for all livestock and poultry animals.  There will be 13 listening sessions across the U.S.

“This is a unique opportunity for California agriculture to contribute its ideas about a program that will determine the way farm animals are identified in the future,” said CDFA Secretary A.G. Kawamura.  “This system will be key to helping government and industry maintain the food supply and respond more effectively to various animal disease outbreaks.”

In December, the USDA announced that it would expedite the implementation of a national animal identification program. The federal agency has received more than $18 million to build a system that will efficiently trace diseased or potentially diseased animals.  A premise identification system will be completed this summer, which will allow for the beginning of pilot programs to test identification systems. More details about each listening session will be posted at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/issues/nais/nais.html.

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