As many are aware, APHIS has released the final wording of the changes to the Animal Disease Traceability rule. This rule was entered into the federal registry this past week and will have an effective date of November 5, 2024 for implementation. APHIS believes that these changes will enhance the ability of regulatory officials, private veterinarians, and livestock producers to quickly respond to diseases of high consequence and foreign animal diseases that may pose a threat to the U.S. cattle and bison industries.

The biggest change that this rule brings is the requirement that eartags applied to cattle and bison will be required to be both electronically and visually readable in order to qualify for use for official identification of cattle and bison moving interstate. Under this final rule; metal NUES tags will no longer qualify as official identification for cattle and bison tagged after November 5, 2024 effective date. All NUES tags currently in place in cattle and bison prior to the November 5 effective date will be recognized as official ID for the life of these animals. The additional changes brought with this final ruling include changes to some definitions and clarification of record retention and records access.

The most pertinent changes included in the final federal ADT rule include changes to certain definitions namely:

• Official Identification for Cattle and Bison: “(i) For an official eartag, beginning November 5, 2024, all official eartags sold for or applied to cattle and bison must be readable both visually and electronically (EID).”
• Dairy Cattle: “All cattle, regardless of age or sex or current use, that are of a breed(s) or offspring of a breed used to produce milk or other dairy products for human consumption, including, but not limited to, Ayrshire, Brown Swiss, Holstein, Jersey, Guernsey, Milking Shorthorn, and Red and Whites.”
• Approved Tagging Site: “A premises, authorized by APHIS, State, or Tribal animal health officials, where livestock without official identification may be transferred to have official identification applied on behalf of their owner or the person in possession, care, or control of the animals when they are brought to the premises.”

Related to questions we have received through this period APHIS will be removing as section of the Brucellosis CFR: § 86.4(c)(4), which states that a brucellosis vaccination visual eartag with a NUES number may be applied to an animal that is already officially identified with one or more official eartags.” As a result, visual only/non-EID brucellosis NUES tags (orange Bangs tags) would no longer be recognized as official ID after the effective date of the rule.

We do recognize the challenges associated with management changes that will be needed for implementation of the final federal ADT rule and encourage you to have discussions with your clients with respect to the potential impact of these changes on their operations. Attached are a copy of the final federal rule as well as the publication from the federal register.

If you have questions, please feel free to reach out to district offices.

ADDITIONAL HPAI RESOURCES:

• Traceability Final Rule Doc
• Final Federal ADT Rule
• What to Expect if You Suspect HPAI in Your Herd
• Healthy Lactating Dairy Cattle Testing Protocol for use in Pre-Movement or Surveillance
• USDA Support for Producers with Affected Dairy Premises