Summary
Livestock production contributed nearly $123 billion to the U.S. economy in 2006. In response to concerns about animal disease outbreaks, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced in December 2003 that it would implement a nationwide program--later named the National Animal Identification System (NAIS)--to help producers and animal health officials respond quickly and effectively to animal disease events in the United States. In this context, GAO determined (1) how effectively USDA is implementing NAIS and, specifically, the key issues identified by livestock industry groups, market operators, state officials, and others; (2) how USDA has distributed cooperative agreement funds to help states and industry prepare for NAIS and evaluated the agreements' results; and (3) what USDA and others estimate are the costs for USDA, states, and industry to implement NAIS. In conducting its work, GAO reviewed USDA documents; interviewed agency, industry, and state officials; and consulted 32 animal identification (ID) experts.
In implementing the NAIS program, USDA has taken some steps to address issues identified by livestock industry groups, market operators, state animal health officials, and others. Nonetheless, the agency has not effectively addressed several issues that, if left unresolved, could undermine the program's ability to achieve the goal of rapid and effective animal disease traceback. Specifically, USDA's decision to implement NAIS as a voluntary program may affect the agency's ability to attract the necessary levels of participation. However, some industry groups believe that NAIS could succeed as a voluntary program, or that USDA needs to first resolve several issues before making participation mandatory. Agency officials are analyzing what participation levels are necessary to meet the program's goal and may introduce benchmarks to measure progress. In addition, several key problems hinder USDA's ability to implement NAIS effectively. USDA has not prioritized the implementation of NAIS by species or other criteria. Instead, the agency is implementing NAIS for numerous species simultaneously, causing federal, state, and industry resources to be allocated widely, rather than being focused on the species of greatest concern. USDA has not developed a plan to integrate NAIS with preexisting USDA and state animal ID requirements. As a result, producers are generally discouraged from investing in new ID devices for NAIS. USDA has not established a robust process for selecting, standardizing, and testing animal ID and tracking technologies. USDA does not clearly define the time frame for rapid traceback, possibly slowing response and causing greater economic losses. USDA does not require potentially critical information to be recorded, such as species or age, in the NAIS databases. USDA has awarded $35 million in NAIS cooperative agreements from fiscal years 2004 through 2006 to 49 states, 29 tribes, and 2 territories to help identify effective approaches to register premises and identify and track animals. However, USDA has not consistently monitored or formally evaluated the results of cooperative agreements or consistently shared the results with states, industry groups, and other stakeholders. As a result, USDA cannot be assured that the agreements' intended outcomes have been achieved and, furthermore, that lessons learned and best practices are used to inform the program's progress. No comprehensive cost estimate or cost-benefit analysis for the implementation and maintenance of NAIS currently exists. As a result, it is not known how much is required in federal, state, and industry resources to achieve rapid and effective traceback, or whether the potential benefits of the program outweigh the costs. Industry groups and state officials say the cost of implementing NAIS is one of their biggest concerns. USDA plans to hire a contractor to conduct a cost-benefit analysis, in part to more precisely forecast the economic effects of NAIS.
Recommendations
Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change
from "In process" to "Implemented" or "Not implemented" based on our follow up work.
Director:
Team:
Phone:
Lisa R. Shames
Government Accountability Office: Natural Resources and Environment
(202) 512-2649
Recommendations for Executive Action
Recommendation: To achieve the program's goal of rapid and effective animal disease traceback, the Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to reestablish participation benchmarks to gauge progress in registering premises and identifying and tracking animals; monitor participation; and, if participation does not meet the benchmarks, take further action, such as making participation mandatory or creating incentives to achieve those levels of participation.
Agency Affected: Department of Agriculture
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To implement NAIS more effectively and efficiently and achieve the program's goal of rapid and effective traceback, the Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Administrator of APHIS to set priorities, in consultation with the NAIS species working groups, state animal health officials, and others, for implementing NAIS incrementally by species or other criteria.
Agency Affected: Department of Agriculture
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To implement NAIS more effectively and efficiently and achieve the program's goal of rapid and effective traceback, the Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Administrator of APHIS to determine how NAIS will integrate with existing USDA and state animal disease eradication programs and branding systems.
Agency Affected: Department of Agriculture
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To implement NAIS more effectively and efficiently and achieve the program's goal of rapid and effective traceback, the Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Administrator of APHIS to establish a robust process to select, standardize, and independently test and evaluate the performance of animal ID and tracking devices to ensure they meet minimum standards.
Agency Affected: Department of Agriculture
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To implement NAIS more effectively and efficiently and achieve the program's goal of rapid and effective traceback, the Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Administrator of APHIS to identify--in consultation with the NAIS species working groups, state animal health officials, and others--current baselines for animal disease traceback, and develop time-sensitive, cost-effective goals for traceback under NAIS, which may include separate time frames for specific diseases.
Agency Affected: Department of Agriculture
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To implement NAIS more effectively and efficiently and achieve the program's goal of rapid and effective traceback, the Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Administrator of APHIS to evaluate what information is critical for efficient traceback, such as species, approximate age or date of birth, and require that participants record that information in the NAIS animal ID and tracking databases.
Agency Affected: Department of Agriculture
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To implement NAIS more effectively and efficiently and achieve the program's goal of rapid and effective traceback, the Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Administrator of APHIS to increase the monitoring of NAIS cooperative agreements, and evaluate and publish the results of cooperative agreements on a timely basis.
Agency Affected: Department of Agriculture
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To implement NAIS more effectively and efficiently and achieve the program's goal of rapid and effective traceback, the Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Administrator of APHIS to conduct the planned analysis of the costs and benefits of NAIS following criteria established in Office of Management and Budget guidance for conducting cost-benefit analyses for federal programs and publish the results for comment.
Agency Affected: Department of Agriculture
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
