National Animal Identification System

The National Animal Identification System (NAIS) is a cooperative state-federal-industry partnership to standardize and expand animal identification programs and practices to all livestock species and poultry. NAIS has three components—premises identification, animal identification, and animal tracking.

The long-term goal of the NAIS is to provide animal health officials with the capability to identify all livestock and premises (including veterinary clinics) that have had direct contact with a disease of concern within 48 hours after discovery. The NAIS is a voluntary program.

Premises Identification

A first step in developing the comprehensive national system is to assign a unique ID number to every physical location where the animals that are within the scope of the NAIS are born, held, managed, marketed, or exhibited. Veterinary clinics that hold these animals in their facilities will also be assigned a Premises ID Number. This is important; in a disease outbreak situation, Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) animal health officials will need to know where the animals at risk are, or where they were, when disease transmission occurred. To date, over 400,000 of the nation's ranches, feed lots, livestock barns and other facilities have registered their premises.

Do you need a premise ID number? Find out here. Questions may be addressed to ODA staff at (503) 986-4680. The program is voluntary. To obtain a premise ID number, visit Oregon's site. The ODA has developed a set of tips to walk you through the sign-up process; they may be found here.

Animal Identification

The system is being developed for all animals that will benefit from rapid tracing in the event of a disease outbreak. Currently, the NAIS includes plans for the following:

• Cattle and Bison
• Swine
• Sheep
• Goats
• Horses
• Poultry
• Deer and Elk
• Llamas and Alpacas

Certain animals—swine and poultry, for example—typically move through the production chain in lots. They’ll be identified as groups instead of individually. If animal identification is not recommended for your animals, you may still choose to register your premises. By choosing to register, you will receive timely information about disease events that could impact your animals. Choosing to register your premises does not obligate you to participate in the other components of NAIS.

Currently, companion animals are not in the implementation plans for the NAIS.

Animal Tracking

The USDA has begun allocating animal identification numbers (AINs) to tag manufacturers and approving visual identification tags for use under the NAIS, paving the way for distribution of these tags to producers.

Initially, AINs will be for cattle, which typically have ear tags for official identification. The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has also adopted an option to allow for the integration of supplemental identification methods or technologies into the identification tag, such as radio frequency identification and biometrics. For cattle, APHIS supports integrating radio frequency identification into the ear tag. Each tag will feature a U.S. shield and a 15-digit animal identification number starting with 840, the country code for the United States. The tags must remain functional throughout the lifetime of the animal, and manufacturers will need to apply for approval from the USDA.

Compiled from USDA, APHIS and ODA reports. Updated 9.7.07