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AVMA: New animal rule “step in right direction”

The American Veterinary Medical Association calls the USDA’s new animal traceability rule “a step in the right direction.”  AVMA CEO Dr. Ron DeHaven, former administrator of the USDA’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), says the new traceability rule is a good foundation upon which to build because it “establishes identification and documentation requirements for livestock moving interstate.”

The AVMA still advocates – though – for a mandatory, uniform national disease traceability and I.D. system that is the same from state to state. Dr. DeHaven says such a system would quickly and accurately trace “large numbers of animals moving during a large disease outbreak.” He says the AVMA wants a “comprehensive, electronic system.”