WASHINGTON — Additional listening sessions on the National Animal Identification System will be conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service next month in California, Florida, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina and South Dakota.
A.P.H.I.S. said it seeks to gather not only producer comments and concerns, but also potential solutions to create a program producers can feel comfortable supporting. Information will be provided about the current program, and each session offers an opportunity to give public testimony or ask a program-related question. Discussion sessions will also cover cost, impact on small farmers, privacy and confidentiality, liability, premises registration, animal identification and animal tracing.
All meetings will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time, with registration one hour prior to each meeting. Meetings will be held on June 9, in Jefferson City, Mo.; June 11, Rapid City, S.D.; June 16, Albuquerque, N.M.; June 18, Riverside, Calif.; June 25, Raleigh, N.C.; and June 27, Jasper, Fla.
Additional information on the meetings can be found at: www.usda.gov/nais/feedback. This notice was published in the May 22 Federal Register.