Interesting article... What is this going to mean for backyarders like most of us?

[harleyjo]

http://www.countrysidemag.com/issues/96/96-2/chicken_crimes.html


This came to my inbox from another poultry blog I follow.

 

[ChickChickChicky]

Absolutely sickening! This is yet another example of a bloated federal government gone wild, throwing away money it doesn't have for reasons that will remain a mystery (well, I'm sure that somebody's croney somewhere will be making money... always, follow the money). We need to all get off our duffs and write letters and make phone calls about this... after all, it seems that most of Congress anymore just votes without reading the bills, or even knowing or caring what the true implications of their votes are. Let's shine a light on this nonsense!

 

[harleyjo]

Absolutely sickening! This is yet another example of a bloated federal government gone wild, throwing away money it doesn't have for reasons that will remain a mystery (well, I'm sure that somebody's croney somewhere will be making money... always, follow the money). We need to all get off our duffs and write letters and make phone calls about this... after all, it seems that most of Congress anymore just votes without reading the bills, or even knowing or caring what the true implications of their votes are. Let's shine a light on this nonsense!

I agree. I just hope this doesn't happen. I am fortunate to live in an area of the country where there are a lot of breeders but that won't be true for everyone.

 

[Grateful Dad]

Im not surprised, no-one can mind their own business anymore.

 

[kmb221]

Government interfering in our lives again and, the thing is, they have no clue how you and I live. They are so out of touch, it is absolutely pathetic.

 

[LILCHIKBIGCHIK]

Unreal, The goberment will soon try to regulate everything and the sad part is it probably won't change till 2016....I got a bad bad feeling that the bleeding heart liberals will vote that clown back into office again. You can't fix stupid

 

[Chemguy]

If you would like to know what the proposal REALLY says, you can find it here:

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/2011/08/pdf/Traceability Summary of Economic Analysis.pdf

 

[ChickChickChicky]

If you would like to know what the proposal REALLY says, you can find it here:

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/2011/08/pdf/Traceability Summary of Economic Analysis.pdf

What you posted speaks only to requirements for cattle, not poultry which we are more concerned with here (although I am against this ENTIRE bill... just more meddling, paperwork and costs forced onto us consumers, all to support the enlargement of an already grossly bloated government). The sections pertaining to poultry say:



Do you order your chicks from a hatchery? If so, you're about to pay more—a lot more. The new rule provides: Poultry moved interstate would be required to be accompanied by an ICVI (interstate certificate of veterinary inspection) unless they are from a flock participating in the National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP) and are accompanied by the documentation required under the NPIP regulations or they are moved directly to a recognized slaughtering establishment (pg. 30). In addition to the required paperwork, the proposed rule also requires flocks not eligible for group identification (backyard and homestead flocks) to be banded individually before they cross a border, this includes day-old chicks shipped from out-of-state hatcheries. Even if the chicks never leave the homestead of the person who ordered them, the bands must be on their legs and remain there for the life of the bird. So, what happens if someone fails to comply? The proposed regulation specifically cites Title VII, Section 8313 of the US Code. First, there are the criminal penalties for non-compliance:
Distribution or sale

A person that knowingly imports, enters, exports, or moves any animal or article, for distribution or sale, in violation of this chapter, shall be fined under title 18, imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
Multiple violations

On the second and any subsequent conviction of a person of a violation of this chapter under paragraph (1), the person shall be fined under title 18, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.
Then, there are the civil penalties:
Except as provided in section 8309(d) of this title, any person that violates this chapter, or that forges, counterfeits, or, without authority from the Secretary, uses, alters, defaces, or destroys any certificate, permit, or other document provided under this chapter may, after notice and opportunity for a hearing on the record, be assessed a civil penalty by the Secretary that does not exceed the greater of - (i) $50,000 in the case of any individual, except that the civil penalty may not exceed $1,000 in the case of an initial violation of this chapter by an individual moving regulated articles not for monetary gain; (ii) $250,000 in the case of any other person for each violation; (iii) for all violations adjudicated in a single proceeding - (iv) $500,000 if the violations do not include a willful violation; or (v) $1,000,000 if the violations include one or more willful violations. Twice the gross gain or gross loss for any violation or forgery, counterfeiting, or unauthorized use, alteration, defacing or destruction of a certificate, permit, or other document provided under this chapter that results in the person's deriving pecuniary gain or causing pecuniary loss to another person.
Failure to band a chicken could result in fines, imprisonment and possible confiscation of every chick at the hatchery or every animal on the homestead where un-banded poultry is found.
In case you haven't already figured it out, these government-approved, individually sealed and numbered leg bands aren't free. But APHIS seems unconcerned about cost. They openly acknowledge they don't have a clue how much this new regulation will cost the nation's small-scale poultry producers and independent hatcheries (pg. 31). APHIS does offer a few convoluted figures on how much the rule will cost producers overall—somewhere around $34 million a year. Not to worry though, the taxpayer will be picking up any additional costs. The 2012 budget calls for at least $3 million of taxpayer funds to be set aside for this program to offset the cost of metal ear tags. No money has been set aside to help independent hatcheries and small flock owners purchase leg bands, not one dime.
Excerpted from: http://www.countrysidemag.com/issues/96/96-2/chicken_crimes.html

 

[coberdor]

This all stems from the scare over avian flu, which by the way was the same virus that they called the Spanish flu, that wiped out a huge chunk of our population at the beginning of the last century.

This is one reason I'd rather not do NPIP. In many ways, I don't want the gov't to be on my property inspecting. I'd rather stay local then.

It's similar to giving a Coggins test to a horse to move then across state lines. The test only proves that at the moment the blood was drawn, they were not infected, but the test is valid for a year! They horse could contract the disease 2 days after the test but could still move across state lines. They just have to get more practical, which of course the government is not. They have had horse herpes outbreaks several times now across the U.S. When this occurs, they stop all movement across state lines, even sometimes, locally where it is currently active. That makes more sense.

This is big industry pressuring the government to stop us from competing with them. Next, they'll ban us from growing vegetables! Look how Monsanto has ruined the corn and soybean industry and put alot of farmers out of business because they don't want to use their GMO seeds. Now Monsanto is getting into the vegetable garden seeds and will try and stop people from saving seeds from year to year that contain their "genetic markers." This is what they did to the corn and soybean farmers. People need to band together and boycott this type of monopolization of our food. Europe does not allow foods to be patented for this very reason.

 

[Ridgerunner]

This one comes up regularly. I'm not even going to bother looking it up again but just go from memory. This is about cattle, not chickens. If you look up the details, practically all of us conscerned with chickens are exempt unless you are a fairly major commerial operations or doing business across state or international borders. Those are covered under different legislation. This does not change any requirements for hatcheries shipping that they don't have to follow anyway from other existing legislation.

Get as fired up as you want about something you read about on the internet. Your choice. I choose not to get carried away by something like that until I check the details.

NPIP has taken a disease that used to be pretty common, Pullorum, and now made it pretty rare. It is a government program that actually worked. Pullorum is not totally eradicated, just tremendously reduced. Each state has their own requirements, which can vary quite a bit, and I've read there are a couple of states that choose to not participate in the program. I think Hawaii might be one because they have their own program due to their unique situation being as isolated as they are.