Scrapie Consistent State Deadline Approaches
    In the Aug. 21, 2001, Federal Register, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's
(USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) published its Final
Rule entitled "Scrapie in Sheep and Goats; Interstate Movement Restrictions and
Indemnity Program." The rule amended the regulations for the movement of sheep
and goats by requiring certain animal identification for animals moving
interstate.
    Since the inception of the program, APHIS considered all 50 states to have
consistent state status in regard to the National Scrapie Eradication Program
(NSEP); however, come Sept. 30, 2006, that status may change for some states
that are not in full compliance. States must have consistent state status in
order to move breeding sheep or goats to other states with minimal restrictions.

    To be considered a consistent state after Sep. 30, 2006, each state is
required to meet all the federal standards. The federal standards require the
development and maintenance of an effective scrapie-control program within the
state, including requiring the identification of most sheep and goats on change
of ownership.
    According to the APHIS NSEP Coordinator Diane Sutton, DVM, three states have
indicated that they will not be consistent by the deadline. Those states are:
Maine, Rhode Island and Vermont. All other states have met or have indicated
that they expect to meet the regulatory requirements of the NSEP by the Sept. 30
cut off.
    There will be serious implications for producers in the states that do not
meet the consistent state requirements. Producers in an inconsistent state who
wish to move breeding sheep across state lines will be required to be enrolled,
and in good standing, with the Scrapie Flock Certification Program. Among other
requirements, this program requires the producer's flock to be inspected
annually by USDA or state personnel. The producer will also be required to
implement a record-keeping system and keep comprehensive animal identification
records. In this situation, producers may face time delays moving sheep out of
the state because USDA and the state animal health department will need to
allocate staff, time and budget to inspect individual flocks.
    Secondly, producers will need to obtain a certificate of veterinary
inspection (often called a health certificate) every time they wish to ship cull
sheep or breeding goats out of state in addition to breeding sheep and goats
commingled with sheep, as is currently required.
    Finally, it is also possible that some states will refuse to accept any
sheep or goats from a state that does not have a consistent status. ...

NAIS update:    The sheep identification working group, chaired by Cindy Wolf, DVM,
submitted its recommendations to the National Animal Identification System
(NAIS) subcommittee last week. Wolf was later notified by the subcommittee that
the report had been approved. It will now be forwarded to the Secretary's
Advisory Committee on Foreign Animal and Poultry Disease which is meeting Sept.
12-13.
    "I want to acknowledge the team spirit with which the members of the sheep
working group accomplished the monumental task of creating the NAIS
recommendations for sheep," commented Wolf. "From the beginning, our group
included broad representation in an effort to incorporate the views and
perspectives of all segments of the industry. Through the process, the sheep
working group has gained extensive knowledge in the animal identification arena
and has functioned as a sounding board for industry concerns."
    The U.S. sheep industry has already accomplished many of the NAIS principles
through the identification component of the mandatory National Scrapie
Eradication Program (NSEP). The report also stated that the voluntary NAIS
program should not be allowed to jeopardize the continuing progress of the
mandatory scrapie program.
    The working group concluded in its report that moving the U.S. sheep
industry toward the 48-hour traceability goal would best be accomplished through
the continued use of the NSEP identification system with the inclusion of a
group/lot identification system.
    In summary, the group listed the following recommendations:
use of the existing NSIP ID system as the starting point;
recognition of the need for an electronic method of identification but
recommended implementing such a system only when there is one that is proven
efficient for sheep and cost effective; and
support of multi-environmental research to resolve problems involved with an
electronic tracking system. [in other words keep doing what we're doing-kbh]
The report, in its entirety, is located on the American Sheep Industry
Association Web site at: www.sheepusa.org.
Staff contact: Paul Rodgers, 303-771-3500