[Federal Register: April 7, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 67)]
[Notices]
[Page 17805-17806]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr07ap06-23]
========================================================================
Notices
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings,
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents
appearing in this section.
========================================================================
[[Page 17805]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. APHIS 2006-0030]
National Animal Identification System (NAIS); Implementation Plan
and Integration of Private and State Animal Tracking Databases With the
NAIS
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of three documents
related to the National Animal Identification System (NAIS): A document
that provides an update on the implementation plans, including
operational milestones and participation goals; a document describing
how private and State animal tracking databases may be integrated into
the NAIS to provide animal health officials with animal movement
information on an as-needed basis; and, in connection with the animal
tracking databases document, a template for a cooperative agreement
that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service may enter into with
organizations that wish to participate in the animal tracking database
component of the NAIS.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Neil Hammerschmidt, National
Coordinator, National Animal Identification System, VS, APHIS, 4700
River Road Unit 200, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; (301) 734-5571.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
As part of ongoing efforts to safeguard animal health, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) initiated implementation of the
National Animal Identification System (NAIS) in 2004. The NAIS is a
cooperative State-Federal-industry program administered by USDA's
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). The main objective
of the NAIS is to develop and implement a comprehensive information
system which will support ongoing animal disease programs and enable
State and Federal animal health officials to respond rapidly and
effectively to animal health emergencies such as foreign animal disease
outbreaks or emerging domestic diseases.
The NAIS is being developed to facilitate rapid tracing in the
event of an outbreak of an animal disease of concern. Working groups
have been formed and are developing plans for camelids (llamas and
alpacas), cattle and bison, cervids (deer and elk), equine, goats,
poultry, sheep, and swine. The ultimate long-term goal of the NAIS is
to provide State and Federal officials with the capability to identify
all animals and premises that have had direct contact with a disease of
concern within 48 hours after discovery. A document providing an update
on the implementation plans for the NAIS, titled ``National Animal
Identification System (NAIS)--Strategies for the Implementation of
NAIS,'' is available at http://www.usda.gov/nais or at http://www.regulations.gov.
Paper copies also may be requested by calling or
writing to the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Please refer to the title of the document when requesting copies.
Currently a voluntary system, the NAIS will be established through
a phased-in approach by implementing three key components: Premises
registration, animal identification, and animal tracking. The USDA has
already developed information systems to support the first two
components. The third component will developed through a government/
industry partnership, in which animal movement information will be
maintained in private and/or State databases and made available to
APHIS as needed in specific situations to trace animal movements.
The USDA's objective is to support the privatization of the animal
tracking information component of the NAIS in the most practical and
timely and least burdensome manner possible. We have determined that
this can best be achieved by establishing a system that will allow the
Federal Government to access information in multiple databases through
a single portal, using a metadata layer (or portal) architecture.
A document entitled ``Integration of Private and State Animal
Tracking Databases with the NAIS; Interim Development Phase,'' presents
our initial plans for moving forward with the implementation of this
system. The document describes the Animal Trace Processing System
(ATPS), a system for processing animal movement data. A two-phase plan
for implementing the ATPS is also described. The plan consists of an
interim/development phase, which is set to begin in 2006, and an
implementation phase, which is targeted for early 2007. Finally, the
document provides data standards and technical requirements and
specifications that databases must meet to be eligible for
participation in the interim phase.
The ATPS, which will be managed by APHIS, is an information system
that includes the metadata portal or system and related functionality
for processing the animal movement records returned to APHIS from
participating animal tracking databases (ATDs) within our Animal Health
Information System. The ATPS will also provide the security, the
interfaces and communication platform, and the auditing process for
participating ATDs, and will enable us to integrate other relevant data
from other APHIS-managed systems within the APHIS'' Animal Health
Information System. The ATPS will be utilized by both Federal and State
animal health officials to submit queries to the ADTs.
Metadata is usually defined as ``data about the data.'' Using the
metadata portal architecture, the Federal Government would regularly
and routinely receive information from each participating NAIS database
about which animal and premises identification numbers were tracked in
each database, but would receive animal movement information only when
such data are needed to support an animal disease program or
investigation. In such a situation, the Federal Government's part of
the system would query only those source systems that contain the
animal and premises identification numbers needed. Other systems would
not need to be queried, which would lessen the input and output burden
on those systems. No animal movement records would be
[[Page 17806]]
stored permanently by the metadata portal.
The metadata system would provide the greatest flexibility for
affected industries and stakeholders. While organizations that wish to
consolidate their tracking data could still do so, and would be
encouraged to do so, most of the existing industry and State systems
would be able to continue collecting and storing information in much
the same way they do now.
To ``jump start'' the integration of private and State ATDs into
the NAIS, APHIS has designed an interim/development phase that will
allow interested organizations to participate in early 2006. During
this interim/development phase, APHIS will enter into a cooperative
agreement (CA) for the integration of the ATD with any organization
that has a qualifying database(s) and that wishes to support the
advancement of the integration of private and State animal tracking/
movement systems into the NAIS.
Included in the current document are the data standards and
technical requirements and specifications that an organization's ATDs
must meet to be eligible to participate in the interim/ development
phase of the ATPS. Organizations must complete the ``Request for
Evaluation of Interim Private/State Animal Tracking Database'' to
initiate an APHIS review of their systems. If its system meets the
interim requirements, an organization may elect to enter into a CA with
APHIS. The CA will ensure that animal health officials have access to
the information contained in the ATD when necessary to perform their
duties. Entering into a CA does not imply that an organization's ATD
will be eligible to participate in the NAIS as a fully compliant system
after ATPS implementation is completed and final eligibility
requirements are established.
During the interim/development phase, APHIS, in cooperation with
stakeholders, will continue to develop the complete requirements for
the integration of private and State ATDs with the NAIS. Systems that
meet these specifications will be defined as ``NAIS Compliant Animal
Tracking Databases'' upon the signing of the agreement with the
organization responsible for the information system. It is anticipated
that the requirements for compliant systems will be completed by late
2006, and actual integration, by early 2007.
APHIS will establish an agreement with each participating
organization that maintains a database with animal tracking information
and that elects to provide access to the information according to the
NAIS requirements. In addition to outlining data elements and access
and operating procedures, the agreement will also stipulate how
movement data will be archived and transferred in the event the
organization and/or technology company ceases business or elects to
discontinue the operation of the ATD.
The document regarding the integration of private and state ATDs
with the NAIS, and a template of the CA, may be viewed on the Internet
at http://www.usda.gov/nais or at http://www.regulations.gov. You may
request paper copies of the document by calling or writing to the
person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Please refer to
the title of the document (``Integration of Private and State Animal
Tracking Databases with the NAIS; Interim Development Phase'') when
requesting copies.
Done in Washington, DC, this 5th day of April 2006.
W. Ron DeHaven,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 06-3412 Filed 4-6-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P