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Action Alert

July 4, 2007

New location for Monday's hearing on anti-NAIS bills!

The hearing on the anti-NAIS bills has been moved to the Cape Cod Lounge at U-Mass Amherst, in the Student Union at 1:00 p.m on Monday, July 9. Please come support the fight to stop NAIS in MA. For more information, see the full alert below, which includes contact information for the Committee members and talking points.

Action Alert: Committee hearing on anti-NAIS bills on July 9

Massachusetts still has the chance to pass a bill to stop NAIS! We need a lot of people to speak up and tell the Representatives and Senators that you want NAIS stopped!

WHAT: The Joint Committee on the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture will hold a hearing on SB 475 and HB 757, two bills opposed to the National Animal Identification System (NAIS).

WHEN: Monday, July 9 at 1:00 p.m.

WHERE: Cape Code Lounge, Student Union, U-Mass Amherst.

ACTION: Please come to the hearing! You can show up to lend your presence, and also testify. Speakers are limited to 3 minutes, and the legislators request that the remarks not be read from written copy. Written testimony can be submitted ahead of time to the Joint Committee, Room 473F, State House, Boston, MA 02133.

ALTERNATIVE: If you can't come, please contact the members of the Committee before July 9 to tell them that you oppose NAIS and you support bills to stop it, particularly SB 475.

Contact information for the committee members, talking points, and a sample email are all below.

For more information, contact noah@libertyark.net or Pat Stewart at 978-827-1305, Farm@hamesaxle.com. Pat is the founder of the Smallholders Alliance and the Liberty Ark Massachusetts Coordinator.

BACKGROUND on the bills:

The text of SB475 can be found at www.smallholdersalliance.com/Bill1472.htm.

HB 757 forbids the MDAR from accepting federal funds for NAIS in 2007, requires MDAR to stop uploading premises data to the federal database, and seeks removal for people whose premises were involuntarily enrolled in the federal database.

SB 475 includes all of the provisions of HB 757, and adds two sections to address the issue of a state premises registration program, and the animal identification or tracking portions of NAIS.

SB 475 prohibits any premises registration or animal identification program, except for existing programs as they CURRENTLY exist. This means that MDAR won't be able to create a state premises registration database to serve as the basis for the rest of NAIS, and it won't be able to implement NAIS under a different name. These are very real threats. For example, Michigan cattlemen are being required to register in the NAIS database and electronically tag their cattle, supposedly as part of the tuberculosis program. Under SB 475, the MDAR can still continue its existing programs, and the Legislature can always decide to provide for a new disease-control program. SB 475 merely stops the agency from establishing a new or expanded premises registration or animal identification and tracking program without legislative authorization.

SB 475 also prohibits any person, whether private or governmental, from discriminating against people who do not participate in NAIS or programs like it. This provides additional protection against the state creating a NAIS-like program (without calling it that) and then coercing people into it. It means that people will be able to buy feed, sell at auction, use slaughterhouses, go to shows and fairs, and everything else we do now, without any pressure to sign up. As with the abuse of existing programs, the threat of coercion is very real. For example, in Colorado, Oklahoma, and other states, 4-H children are being required to sign up for NAIS even though there is no statute or regulation making the program mandatory.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Name, area represented, email, phone number

SENATORS:

REPRESENTATIVES:

TALKING POINTS

NAIS is an important issue to me and many other people in Massachusetts. SB 475 should be passed.

NAIS will hurt Massachusetts's economy:

Neither the USDA nor the state agency has scientific proof show that NAIS will improve disease control:

NAIS is not necessary for the market. Age- and source-verification is already available through the USDA's Process Verified Program

NAIS will not improve food safety

NAIS will not protect against terrorism.

NAIS infringes on people's constitutional rights, including due process, privacy, and religious freedom.

NAIS unfairly burdens pet owners and people who raise food for themselves.

USDA states that NAIS is voluntary at the federal level, so there is no "federal mandate" requiring Massachusetts to implement this program.

SAMPLE EMAIL - Personalize for the greatest effect!

Subject: Vote yes on SB 475

Dear Representative (or Senator) _______:

I am a _________ (small farmer, consumer of local foods, horse owner, taxpayer. Tell them a little bit about yourself and why you care about this issue). I am writing to ask that you support SB 475, which would prevent the establishment of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) in Massachusetts.

If it is made mandatory, NAIS would require that every person who owns even one chicken, horse, cow, sheep, goat, pig, or other livestock animal:

  1. Register their premises in a federal database;

  2. Identify each animal with an internationally unique 15-digit number when they are moved from their herd of origin or commingled with other animals. For many species, the identification would be electronic. Factory farms will be able to use "group numbers," but most small farmers and pet owners will not qualify.

  3. Track their animals: The owner must report, within 24 hours, events such as tagging the animal, death or slaughter, public and private sales, and regional shows.

I am opposed to NAIS because it will impose heavy burdens on our rights and our economy, without providing any real benefits. NAIS is an unprecedented expansion of the government bureaucracy into people's private lives and infringes on our property rights. Neither the U.S. Department of Agriculture nor the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) has provided any scientific basis for the claims of improved disease control. Neither agency has done a cost-benefit analysis of the program, either. There are many more effective, less expensive, and less intrusive methods for improving animal health and addressing animal disease.

NAIS will drive many small and medium-size farmers and ranchers out of business and discourage people from owning horses and other livestock as pets, resulting in far-reaching effects on our economy. The only winners in this program are the microchip manufacturers, the associations that will manage the databases, and the government employees. If the federal government ultimately decides to implement NAIS, it can do so - our state should not.

Please support SB 475 when it comes before your Committee on July 9. This bill would:

  1. stop the MDAR from accepting federal funds in 2007 to implement NAIS;

  2. stop the uploading of data on Massachusetts residents into the federal database;

  3. allow for the removal of data on those people who have been involuntarily enrolled;

  4. preclude MDAR from using other existing programs as a means to implement NAIS, while still allowing the state to continue existing programs and implement new disease-specific programs as needed; and

  5. prohibits any person, whether private or governmental, from discriminating against people who do not participate in NAIS or programs like it.

SB 475 is critical to protecting our rights, the health of our animals, and the health of our economy.

Thank you for your attention to this issue.

Name
Address
City, State, Zip
Email if you have it



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