USDA Adds Additional Animal Disease Traceability Public Meetings

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will be holding three additional public meetings on the animal disease traceability framework approach.

On Feb. 5, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA will develop a new, flexible, yet coordinated framework for animal disease traceability in the United States. Under this new direction, states and tribal nations must establish the ability to trace back to their state of origin animals moving interstate. The new framework will embrace the strengths and expertise of states, tribal nations and producers and empower them to find and use the traceability approaches that work best for them.

In addition to the five public meetings held in May, June and July, meetings have been scheduled on Aug. 18 in Madison, Wis., Aug. 20 in Atlanta, Ga., and Aug. 24 in Pasco, Wash. These are the final public meetings being planned to obtain feedback on the framework and development of the proposed rule on traceability.

Detailed information about the upcoming meetings is available at www.aphis.usda.gov/traceability/meetings/index.shtml. Summaries and transcripts of the previous meetings are available at www.aphis.usda.gov/traceability/meetings/meeting_summary.shtml.