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ANSWERS
TO FREQUENTLY ASKED CAMELID
QUESTIONS
Q. What
is the National Animal Identification System (NAIS)?
A. The NAIS is a voluntary national program under USDA, intended to identify all
agricultural animals and track them as they come into contact with, or
are intermixed with, animals other than herdmates from their premises
of origin.
Q. Why
Is a National Animal Identification System (NAIS) Needed?
A. A national animal identification system is needed to help protect American
animal agriculture from foreign or domestic disease threats. The NAIS
will allow for rapid tracing of animals in the event of a disease outbreak,
helping to limit the scope and expense of any such event. The NAIS will
help uphold the reputation of the US as having healthy animals and will
promote continued confidence in American agricultural and animal products.
The goal of the NAIS is to be able to identify any animals exposed to
a foreign animal disease (such as foot-and-mouth) or domestic disease
of concern (such as vesicular stomatitis) within 48 hours of discovery.
Q. Will
I Have to Permanently Identify or Microchip ALL My Animals?
A. You don't need to ID or microchip your animals that never travel or
are not sold.
Q. Can
the Microchips Currently in Common Use in Camelids, i.e. the 9, 10 or
12-Character, 125- and 128-kHz Microchips, be Grandfathered in as a Means
of Official Identification in the NAIS for the Lifetime of the Animal?
A. Yes, if these microchips are currently implanted in a registered camelid,
they can be grandfathered in for the remaining lifetime of the animal,
and implantation with a second 134.2- kHz microchip will not be necessary.
Several conditions, however, will apply to grandfathering in these microchips.
For example, the owner will be responsible for ensuring that the microchip
is functional and for providing a scanner capable of reading the microchip
if the animal is transported interstate. Whether or not these microchips
could be grandfathered in for unregistered camelids has yet to be determined.
Q. Will
the CWG be Assertive with USDA on the Request From Owners NOT to Have
to Re-chip Our Animals?
A. Yes, absolutely! Most of the CWG members have llamas or alpacas of
their own that could need to be re-chipped. We know firsthand how much
it could cost and agree this should not be necessary. The WG submitted
a comment to Docket 01-015-1 asking USDA to accept the existing 125-128
kHz microchips already in use (see: Docket
01-015-1).
Q. Will
All Camelids be Required to Have 134.2 kHz Microchips in 2009 When the
NAIS is Expected to Become Mandatory?
A. We will urge USDA to accept 125-128 microchips currently implanted
in camelids for the lifetime of the animals without having to implant
a different chip. It’s important to realize that even in 2009, not
all animals will be required to have permanent identification. Only those
animals leaving the farm or ranch to enter commerce (e.g. travel to another
state, move to another farm for breeding or because they were sold, attend
a show, etc.) will need identification bearing the official Animal Identification
System. Animals which stay on your farm will not be required to have permanent
identification.
Q. If
an Animal Doesn’t Currently Have a 125- or 128-kHz Microchip and
the Owner Implants One in the Future, Will They be Grandfathered in Also?
A. Ongoing use of 125- or 128-kHz microchips is problematic, and there
is no clear answer to the question as yet. If the microchips were implanted
recently, or will be in the near future, they will likely be grandfathered
in. At some point in time, to be determined by USDA, ALL species will
have to use ONLY 134.2 kHz identification devices.
Q. Can
Camelid Owners Continue to Use 125-kHz Microchips Indefinitely?
A. As it stands now, it does not appear that owners can continue to implant
125- or 128-kHz microchips in camelids indefinitely and have them grandfathered
in for use in the NAIS. When participation in the NAIS becomes mandatory,
which is expected to be in 2008 or 2009, it appears that only 15-digit
134.2-kHz microchips will be acceptable. The CWG will need to develop
a timeline for phasing out the use of 125- and 128-kHz microchips as new
implants while making the transition to 134.2-kHz microchips. The timeline
described in the NAIS Strategic Plan draft indicates “840 numbers”
(USA country code) will be initiated in August 2005. USDA is on target
for release of official animal identification numbers (AIN) in late summer
2005, and 15-digit 134.2 kHz microchips bearing official AIN should be
available shortly thereafter.
Q. Why
Might Grandfathering of the 125- or 128-kHz Microchips be Limited to Registered
Camelids?
A. The breed registration number is the official means of identification
that links the microchip number to a specific animal. A 125- or 128-kHz
microchip is not recognized as official identification, so without a registration
number, unregistered animals have no form of official identification.
The CWG needs to determine if there is a way the microchips in unregistered
animals could also be grandfathered in, perhaps, for example, by listing
them in the International Lama Registry database.
Q. Neither
the 125- or 128-kHz Microchips Have the Requisite 15-digits With the USA
Country Code, so How Could They be Used for Official Identification?
A. A breed registration number is currently one of several forms of official
identification approved for participation in government programs and interstate
movement of livestock. For the NAIS, the grandfathered microchips would
be considered a supplemental form of identification secondary to the breed
registration number. (It is important to note that permanent identification
of animals will eventually be required by each state for intrastate transport
of livestock as well.)
Here
is how the 125- or 128-kHz microchips would be used as official identification
in the NAIS: the animal must be registered, the microchip number must
be on the registration certificate, a copy of the certificate listing
the microchip number must accompany the animal during interstate transportation,
the microchip in the animal must be functional and match the microchip
number on the registration certificate, and a reader capable of reading
the microchip must be available during transportation. For NAIS tracking
purposes, the NAIS database would record the breed registry number as
the primary form of identification and the microchip number as an alternate
method.
Q. If I
Want to Buy a New Reader, Should it be Able to Read Both 125 and 134.2
kHz Microchips?
A. Yes, if at all possible, especially if you have implanted 134.2 kHz
microchips because many of the readers in current use won’t detect
these chips. If you cannot obtain a reader capable of detecting both types
of microchips, it would be best to delay your purchase until these readers
become more widely available.
Q. USDA
Has Announced That it is Giving $14.3 Million to States and Tribes for
Premises Registration. Is There Any Way That Llama/Alpaca Owners Will
Get a Portion of This for Microhipping Our Animals?
A. The only funding released right now will go to the states for the premises
registration system. That is a computer database USDA and each state will
use to collect data on farm’s physical locations. As of July 2005,
USDA does not envision any significant Federal funding being used for
individual animal tags or readers.
Q. Where
Do I Go to Register My Farm? (see also NAIS general question #8)
A. The animal health agency in your state will issue you a premises id.
Please follow this link to the NAIS web site which lists the contacts
for each state and tribe:
[ http://animalid.aphis.usda.gov/nais/contact_us/directories.shtml
]
A few states are still using an older version of the premises registration
form that only lists “Llama” as the main camelid species; the
CWG Education/Outreach Committee is working with each state to correct
this error and have the forms updated to list “Camelids” as
the correct species.
Q. I Only
Own One Animal – Do I Still Need to Register My Premises?
A. Check with the animal ID coordinator for your state.
[ http://animalid.aphis.usda.gov/nais/contact_us/directories.shtml
]
Q. Where
Do I Get an Animal Identification Number (AIN)?
A. After registering your premises, contact an AIN Manager in your area
or [list any camelid AIN managers here] to receive ID numbers for your
individual animals.
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