NAIS Points
* NAIS is a major issue for me. It's not just one issue among many, it's an election issue.
* NAIS will hurt Your State's economy. There has been no cost analysis by USDA or Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC). The costs of the program include the cost of the tags, hardware, software, time and labor. Many small farmer and ranchers cannot afford these costs and will go out of business. Service providers (veterinarians, feed stores, auction houses, meat processors, etc.) will be harmed when the farmers and ranchers go out of business. Ultimately, the costs will be passed on to consumers, driving inflation.
* Neither the USDA nor the TAHC has scientific proof show that NAIS will improve disease control. It does not address the cause, treatment, or transmission of disease, in domestic or wild animals. It does not significantly improve on current methods for identification and tracking of disease.
* NAIS is not necessary for the market. Age- and source-verification is already available through the USDA's Process Verified Program
* NAIS will not improve food safety. USDA itself has stated that this is not a food safety program. Contamination of food with e. coli and other bacteria occurs at the slaughterhouse or afterwards, while NAIS will stop before that point.
* NAIS will not protect against terrorism. The microchips chosen by the state can be cloned, destroyed, or infected with computer viruses, and reprogrammed. The database of information, created by TAHC (or any other state org) and available to USDA, will provide a target for hackers.
* NAIS infringes on people's constitutional rights, including due process, privacy, and religious freedom.
* USDA states that NAIS is voluntary at the federal level, so there is no "federal mandate" requiring Your State to implement this program
* Other states are also rejecting or limiting NAIS, so Your State will not be disadvantaged by limiting it to a voluntary program. The Arizona Governor has just signed a law that bars NAIS from becoming mandatory in Arizona. The Missouri Senate has passed a complete bar on any government-run NAIS, and the Tennessee House Committee on Agriculture has unanimously approved a bill that would bar a mandatory NAIS.