Joelle Schelhaus (301) 734-0595
Angela Harless (202) 720-4623
USDA, TEXAS/MEXICO BORDER COALITION AND THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS PAN AMERICA HOST INFORMATIONAL MEETING ON NATIONAL ANIMAL IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM
WASHINGTON, Nov. 8, 2007--Officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service recently joined representatives from Hispanic serving institutions and community-based organizations, along with state officials and producers to forge partnerships within Latino communities for outreach and education on the National Animal Identification System (NAIS).
“NAIS is made stronger by the wide variety of producers who participate and help shape the program,” said Bruce Knight, undersecretary for USDA’s marketing and regulatory programs mission area. “Hispanic producers are an important and growing segment of the U.S. agricultural industry and it’s critical that they have a voice in the continued evolution and success of NAIS.”
The conference, hosted by the Texas/Mexico Border Coalition and the University of Texas Pan America November 5-7, gave participants an opportunity to learn more about NAIS, as well as to jointly develop NAIS outreach strategies tailored to the needs of Hispanic producers.
This meeting is the third in a series sponsored by USDA to provide representatives of minority groups with NAIS education and outreach. The other meetings were held with African American producers during June in Petersburg, Va., and with Native American producers during October in Albuquerque, N.M.
NAIS is a modern, streamlined information system that helps producers and animal health officials respond quickly and effectively to animal health events in the United States. NAIS utilizes premises registration, animal identification and animal tracing components to both locate potentially diseased animals and eliminate animals from disease suspicion. It is a state-federal-industry partnership, which is voluntary at the federal level. For more information on NAIS, visit www.usda.gov/nais.
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