Complaint Alleges EID Tags "Unlawful" and "Burdensome"
The New Civil Liberties Alliance has filed a complaint against the U.S. Department of Agriculture and its Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, challenging a new rule that would require electronically readable, or EID, ear tags for certain cattle and bison transported across state lines. Set to take effect on November 5, the rule aims to replace traditional visual ear tags with electronic ones, a shift that the NCLA argues is unlawful and burdensome for ranchers.
Representing ranchers, farmers, and livestock producers, the NCLA has filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for South Dakota, urging the court to stop what it calls an illegal attempt to eliminate a long-used and efficient identification method. Kara Rollins, Litigation Counsel for the NCLA, said, ‘USDA and APHIS are pursuing their objectives without any regard to the statutory limitations placed on them by Congress.’ She added that America’s ranchers are being forced to foot the bill for an unnecessary rule.
According to the NCLA, the new electronic tag requirement would create significant financial and operational burdens, particularly on small and independent cattle producers…
November 4, 2024
Originally Published in Ag Information Network