Update on NCBA’s Animal ID Subcommittee progress
Allen Bright, Chairperson of NCBA’s Animal ID Subcommittee 
2002 BIF Symposium, Live Animal and Carcass Evaluation Breakout Session

The Animal ID Subcommittee recently adopted the “NCBA Cattle Identification Standards and Recommendations” at the NCBA Annual Meeting in February 2002. These standards and recommendations were drafted to be a minimum voluntary level set for improvement and consistency of information flow.  

Three significant opportunities were identified to develop this framework: 

1. Sources of information. Applying a tag at any stage of production or ownership is not automatic entitlement to any information. Participation and/or agreement between buyers and sellers is necessary to ensure the sharing of information.  

A standardized, International Organization for Standardization (ISO)-based electronic ID tag with a minimum 30-inch read-range is specified, but producers may use a visual ID based on a nationally accepted number (allocated by breed registry, American ID, U.S. government, etc.) if electronic ID (eID) is not a viable option.

2. Gathering and submission of information. For confidentiality purposes, previous ownership identity will not be passed to the buyer without agreement or ownership authorization.

Basic information such as individual animal ID (15-digit number, including manufacturer/country code) and premises information (producer ID, address, phone number) is required.

3. Management of information. Data exchange and interfacing among data management and software companies is encouraged.

Data should remain the property of the cattle owners/stakeholders, and should be formatted for transmission to subsequent owners in accordance with the Subcommittee’s recommendations.

These Standards and Recommendations may be obtained from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, at www.beef.org or by calling (303) 694-0305.

— by Matt Perrier