Regulatory Analysis and Development

PPD, APHIS Station 3A--03.8

4700 River Road, Unit 118

Riverdale, MD 20737--1238

May 30, 2008

Re: Docket no. APHIS -- 2007--0015

Dear Mr. Chapman,

**Background:**

The South Dakota Stockgrowers Association (SDSGA) is an organization of
about 1,650 independent producers committed to representing the
industry\'s needs in regard to animal health, trade, marketing and land
use issues.

SDSGA appreciates the opportunity to provide meaningful input regarding
APHIS's consideration of placing NAIS documents under the Privacy Act
(APHIS -- 2007-0015)

**Comments:**

SDSGA strongly urges USDA APHIS to immediately abandon plans to attempt
to add NAIS documents and the Comprehensive Electronic Permitting
System, especially records of individual livestock owners, to the
"inventory of record systems" covered by the Privacy Act.

Additionally, SDSGA believes that information obtained by government
agencies, such as premise numbers, livestock numbers or animal movement
should not be accessible to the general public, but should be accessible
to the particular person whose information is being collected or who is
being investigated. For example, if an animal is being investigated for
a disease, we believe that *all* previous owners of the animal should
have access to all information in the investigation. This will allow for
a more open and honest search for the truth, and will help reduce
instances or the appearance of corruption. If previous owners are not
allowed access to the investigation, they may be falsely accused of
wrongdoing, and will have no opportunity to defend themselves.

We believe the purpose of the Privacy Act is intended to prevent private
citizen information from being shared with government agencies. We do
not believe it is the intent of USDA to carry this out. (see point 5
below.)

The U.S. cattle industry has been reassured by USDA APHIS numerous times
that NAIS provides for privacy of livestock producers -- that our
information will not be disclosed to the public. If this is the case,
what is the need for the Privacy Act?

These are some of our concerns with the proposal:

1.  The USDA is assuming authority that it has not been granted by
Congress; they do not have statutory authority to make NAIS mandatory,
to write rules or establish a database.

2.  There are involuntary enrollees in the database; examples are the
Idaho state veterinarian who enrolled all brand owners, Colorado 4-H and
FFA youngsters, and those in the hay buying that ended up enrolled.
These individuals should not be included in the database -- their
information should be deleted, *not* shared with other government
agencies.

3.  NAIS is not compatible with the 1974 Privacy Act or the Securities
Act.

> It is our understanding that the Privacy Act of 1974 does not permit
> "conversion" of a pre-existing collection of records into a "Privacy
> Act system of records."  Clearly the databases mentioned by USDA (the
> Standardized Premises Registration System (SPRS), the National
> Premises Information Repository (NPIR), the Animal Identification
> Number Management System (AINMS), and the Animal Trace Processing
> System (ATPS) are currently in existence. Therefore, we do not believe
> they qualify for the Privacy Act, which requires that programs be
> enrolled upon their *conception*, not several years later.

4.      This is more than premises ID; it is a program, and there has
not been full disclosure of the entire NAIS program. Many individuals
who may have "signed up" for a premises number may have done so without
being informed of the details of the program or the agencies who would
have access to their personal information.

5.      By USDA's own admission, they are not striving to allow for
privacy for livestock producers. It is our understanding that the
Privacy Act is intended to protect private information of U.S. citizens
from being passed between agencies of the Federal Government. It appears
that USDA's intention is just the opposite -- they actually intend for
several agencies to have automatic access to all NAIS information.  We
are especially concerned with "other parties engaged in administering
the program..." who does this refer to?

"APHIS may disclose information in the ePermits system to the Department

of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection agency, which
inspects shipments that arrive at United States ports for compliance
with permit conditions. APHIS may also disclose information in the
ePermits system to cooperative Federal, State, and local government
officials, employees, or contractors, and other parties engaged in
administering the program. APHIS may

disclose information to State government regulatory officials in the
State of destination for review and comment. Other routine uses of this
information include releases related to investigations pertaining to
violations of law or related to litigation. A complete listing of the
routine uses for this system is included in the accompanying document
that is published along with this notice,"

Federal Register, Wed., April 30, 2008 page 23407

In closing, we reaffirm our concern with the proposal to transfer
information under the Privacy Act. We do not believe this is necessary
as USDA APHIS has reassured the cattle industry that all NAIS
information collected is secure and private. We strongly urge USDA *not*
to implement this plan.

Additionally we endorse comments made by R-CALF USA.

Sincerely,

Larry Nelson, President

South Dakota Stockgrowers Association

426 St Joseph St

Rapid City, South Dakota 57701