On 5 May, the US Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) announced a draft of a strategic plan for the development of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) and solicited feedback from agriculture producers, leaders, and industry partners1,2.

APHIS administers the NAIS, a cooperative state-federal-industry program that was created to track animal movements from birth to death to track animal diseases.

This draft plan will highlight the importance of a national identification system that NAIS will develop after field trials and integration of premises identification, animal identification, and animal tracking.

The NAIS will enable State and Federal animal health officials to contain animal disease through improved tracking of animal species that could impact the health of US food animals, better management of disease surveillance and control programs, implementation of electronic systems for monitoring intra- and interstate animal movement, and identification of animals and premises that have had contact with a foreign or domestic animal disease of concern within 48 hours of an initial presumptive-positive diagnosis.