DoA: Cooperative Agreement for a Benefit Cost Analysis of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS)

Sponsor: The United States Department of Agriculture (USDoA)

Implementation of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) began in the fall of 2004, with voluntary premises registration made available to all interested States, Tribes, and Territories. As of January 31, 2007, over 25 percent of eligible premises had been registered nationwide. NAIS remains a voluntary effort and continues to be implemented by States, Tribes, and Territories. NAIS-approved individual animal identification devices are available, and private and State animal tracing databases are nearing implementation.

NAIS is an industry-State-Federal partnership. It is a significant and comprehensive undertaking. Contributions of direct and indirect costs are and will be made by producers, animal health providers, State governments, and the Federal government. A benefit cost analysis of NAIS is needed in order to inform stakeholders and policy makers of: (i) the system’s expected net benefits, both overall and by animal industry sub-sector and, (ii) how benefits and costs are likely to be distributed among participants. This competitive Cooperative Agreement announcement is soliciting applications to perform such a benefit cost analysis of NAIS. Applications that demonstrate multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary approaches are desired. Prior experience or demonstrated familiarity by applicants with the livestock industries of the United States, NAIS, and the financial, economic, and productivity impacts of animal health threats is also desired.

The successful applicant must clearly describe the methods and methodologies to be used to determine and present any future benefits and costs associated with implementation of NAIS. The analysis will be multi-dimensional, cutting along several planes: by NAIS component (premises registration, animal identification, animal movement reporting); by NAIS partner (industries, State governments, Federal government); by animal species (cattle, hogs, sheep, equine and poultry, and to the extent possible, less major species such as bison, goats, cervid, camelid, and aquaculture); by animal industry sector or sub-sector (such as individual producers of varying scale, intermediate feeders, livestock markets, and slaughter facilities); and, by regional differences that may be of significance to NAIS. For all animal industries analyzed, benefits and costs of NAIS for small holders will be fully evaluated. For comparative purposes, current and future benefits and costs of NAIS will be compared to those that would be expected to occur in the absence of NAIS.

The analysis will describe benefits and costs associated with individual and group/lot unique animal identification using potentially applicable animal identification technologies, and include costs to producers and State/Federal governments of interfacing with private and/or State animal identification device distribution databases (ADDDs). The analysis of animal movement reporting systems will include benefits and costs to producers and State/Federal governments of interfacing with private and/or State animal tracking databases (ATDs).

Applications must use well-defined approaches and methodologies in analyzing the benefits and costs of NAIS, and follow sound economic principles. It is suggested that the benefit cost analysis in the final report for this Cooperative Agreement be prepared in accordance with established Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidelines, as presented in OMB Circular No. A-94 Revised (October 29, 1992; updated January 26, 2006.

The successful applicant will benefit from enhancement of capacity building through faculty and graduate student support; inter-departmental and inter-institutional collaboration; visibility among peer academic faculties; and demonstration of academic productivity suitable for documentation of scholarly capability for future funding opportunities. The cooperative agreement period will be for 12 months initiated on the date of the signing of the Notice of Award.

Amount: up to $500,000

Deadline: June 4, 2007

For further information, please visit: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/mrpbs/fmd/benefit_cost_analysis.pdf