Dear Commissioner Peterson:

You take over the position of Agriculture Commissioner at a difficult time for Massachusetts. Organizations within the state and across the country have mounted a vocal opposition to the National Animal Identification System (NAIS). The Massachusetts Legislature is considering two bills - SB 475 and H757 - to address the problem of NAIS.

Unfortunately, your predecessor at the MDAR chose to aggressively push this program, despite the harm it will do to the many small farmers, pet owners, and other animal owners of this state. We ask that you halt the automatic enrollment of individuals in NAIS immediately and hold public hearings on the issue so that you can hear from Massachusetts animal owners.

Just days before you took over, the MDAR sent out a letter to approximately 10,000 Massachusetts farmers, 4H families, horse owners and others regarding the Premises Registration stage of NAIS. The letter stipulated that citizen information would be uploaded to the USDA Premises Database, unless these people chose to "opt out" of the program.

There are many layers of problems with this letter. The first problem is the MDAR's decision to promote NAIS despite the numerous objections to the program raised by Massachusetts citizens and the complete lack of evidence that NAIS will do anything to improve health and safety. Despite repeated requests to the USDA, the agency has provided absolutely no scientific basis for NAIS. The alleged protection it will provide against disease outbreaks, both natural and intentional, is illusory. The United Kingdom has had a Livestock Identification program since 1998, yet it continues to have outbreaks of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy. Rather than protect livestock, the UK's identification program has caused the death of thousands of animals through unnecessary depopulations, where healthy animals are killed simply because they are in the wrong place or do not have their paperwork in order. In the recent cases of FMD, it was government error that caused the release of the pathogen, yet it was the farmers and their livestock who suffered for this carelessness.

While NAIS will not improve animal health, it will impose significant costs on animal owners. Premises registration is not free, but paid for through our tax dollars. The next two phases of NAIS, animal identification and tracking, will impose significant direct costs: electronic tags, readers and computers, software and internet access, and whatever fees the private databases impose under the threat of government mandates. Although USDA is promoting the program, it has yet to complete a cost-benefit analysis. Moreover, although it is being implemented by the government, the databases will be held by private entities, such as the U.S. Animal Identification Organization (USAIO). The USAIO was created by industrial agricultural associations, some of whom have connections with for-profit entities who stand to make significant profits from electronic identification and tracking. In essence, the large industrial players will be able to impose whatever costs they choose on small farmers, while potentially having access to critical market information. NAIS is a recipe for the consolidation of the food supply in the hands of a few large entities, and the loss of local agriculture, homesteaders, pet owners, and ultimately our rural communities.

The second problem with MDAR's letter is the abuse of the concept of "voluntary." The letter stated that MDAR was "honoring" the intent of the NAIS to be voluntary. How can it be voluntary if you are automatically enrolled unless you notify the agency in writing within a specific time period? Since the agency chose to send the letter through regular mail, it cannot be certain that each person has actually received the notice, much less read and understood the issues. MDAR's letter does not constitute adequate notification and any attempts to register people based on the possibility - not certainty - that they received notice would be highly improper and possibly illegal. We urge you to cancel all plans for automatic registration. If you decide to continue premises registration, it should at least be as an "opt in process," with all forms and explanatory literature written in plain language so that property owners will fully understand that to which they are committing.

The MDAR's process of automatic registration raises many more questions. What about people who have purchased property that MDAR has identified as a "premises" because the previous owner had livestock? Will they be enrolled automatically? What about renters? And what about people who obtain animals in the future? What event will trigger the 45 days for them to opt out, and how will they know? Yet another complication arises from the question of how a person can even know whether or not their information has been placed in the database. The USDA has stated that the data is exempt from FOIA inquiries. If this is so, how do citizens know if they have really been removed from the list of premises?

We all want healthy livestock. We also need Massachusetts agriculture to grow if we are to serve the increasing interest in supporting local agriculture, for reasons ranging from concern with climate change and oil costs to a desire to renew our rural communities. The relationship between Commonwealth farmers and MDAR needs to be nurtured through education and cooperation. NAIS, particularly when implemented through this problematic "opt out" method, undermines that critical trust.

We, as farmers, horse owners, 4H families and others, respectfully request that you halt the automatic enrollment of individuals in NAIS immediately and hold public hearings on the issue so that you can hear from Massachusetts animal owners. We believe that there should be no government NAIS program, and the government's role should be limited to insuring that private entities do not use unfair methods to coerce participation in privately owned and operated voluntary animal identification systems. At a minimum, if MDAR persists in moving ahead with NAIS at this time, it should be as an "opt in" program in which people can contact MDAR with their information, rather than be enrolled without their permission or knowledge.

Sincerely,

Patricia Garland Stewart
Founder, Massachusetts Small Holders Alliance
State Coordinator, Liberty Ark Coalition