09/19,2005 Congress monitoring ID implementation

American Rancher September 19, 2005 The U.S. House Agriculture Committee last week heard testimony from officials directly involved in national animal ID systems now in place in Canada and Australia. Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, says the hearing convinced him that USDA's approach on animal ID, a partnership between government and private groups, is the right way to go. Goodlatte: "This will protect farmers both in being able to choose from a variety of ways to identify their animals and a variety of different technologies coupled with the assurance that their information will be kept private. It will not be available unless there is a need by state or federal government agencies." But Collin Peterson, ranking Democrat on the House Ag Committee says the government needs real-time access to animal ID data which is not called for under the current USDA plan. Peterson suggests that instead of putting animal ID information in private databases, Congress should exempt the information from the Freedom of Information Act or F-O-I-A. Peterson: "And we have Democratic support to do that and for whatever reason they have been reluctant to do that. I think the only way we can be sure the producers will be protected is if we pass an exemption." Goodlatte says the House Ag Committee will continue monitoring USDA as the ID program is implemented. USDA's timeline for complete implementation of a national ID system is by the end of 2009. I'm Bob Hoff.