Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Congressman Steve King said today that a mandatory national livestock identification system would allow the U.S. to drill down to specific animal history information in the instance of a positive case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) or other animal diseases in the U.S.

Yesterday, the USDA confirmed the evidence of BSE in tests on an Alabama cow.

“If we had a mandatory national ID system in place, we would already know the full background of this animal from birth to slaughter,” said King. “With the click of a mouse, we would have already pinpointed each location of the animal.”

King authored H.R. 3170, the Livestock Identification and Marketing Opportunities (LIMO) Act, which would establish a producer-controlled national identification system for the livestock industry that would be run by stakeholders.

King created the LIMO Act to provide an immediate response mechanism for animal disease control, ensure the U.S. place in the world market, protect our livestock producers and provide a framework for producers and breeders to capitalize on their proprietary carcass information.

LIMO would establish a Livestock Identification Board to launch and maintain the livestock identification system. Participation in the system would be mandatory for cattle, swine, sheep, goats and poultry.  The members of the Board would represent each industry, the USDA and State or tribal agriculture agencies. In addition, under King’s bill, livestock and premises information collected for the system will be by law exempted from the Freedom of Information Act.

King has been researching the bill since he was elected to Congress. He investigated the operating livestock identification systems and met with producers in Australia and Canada, the leaders among countries with established livestock identification systems. He also spoke with their agriculture industries about their successes and mistakes. In addition, King gathered input from across the U.S. livestock industry.