NIAA News Release

ID•INFO EXPO 2007, which has become the premier event on these issues, will be held August 28-30, at the Westin Crown Center in Kansas City.

“While government policies are set at the cabinet/ministerial level, it is the people in the various agencies (state and provincial), academia and industry that have the responsibility for making these programs work. Thus our theme ‘Where Traceability Needs Intersect: Animal Health, Country of Origin Labeling (COOL), Food Safety and Consumer Demand’ will be discussed by an amazing array of experts from government, academia and industry,” says program chairman Robert Fourdraine.

He cites for example, Samantha Simon, who is currently a Quality Manager for the Livestock and Seed Program, Audit, Review, and Compliance (ARC) Branch, of the U. S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), Agricultural Marketing Service. She is responsible for developing, implementing, and maintaining the quality management system for the ARC Branch, identification and traceability are key elements of her responsibilities. Dr. Patrick Webb, National Pork Board, will join her along with others, in the Tuesday afternoon session “Current Status of North American Traceability Programs.”

State level officials such as Dr. John Huntley, New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, Director of the Division of Animal Industry, will join academician and sheep/goat expert, Dr. Cindy Wolf, University of Minnesota, in discussing practical identification and traceability solutions that are in place today scheduled for Wednesday morning.

Wednesday session speakers include, Dr. Bruce Hoffman, Animal Profiling International and Dr. Steven Smith, DHI-Provo who will be among a panel of other experts discussing new breakthroughs in technologies that may create new opportunities for the entire industry, including producers.

On the final day, the closing session will be headlined by Dr. Gary Smith, Colorado State University, who is considered one of the world’s foremost experts in animal identification and NIAA’s CEO Michele Vise-Brown. They’ll sum up the new and important information presented at ID•INFO EXPO 2007 and put into perspective of what the future may bring.

“These are just a few highlights from the program,” according to Glenn Fischer, co-chair of the program committee.

Early-bird registration, which ends Friday, July 27, is available at www.animalagriculture.org along with hotel registration and exhibitor/sponsorship information.

The National Institute for Animal Agriculture provides a forum for building consensus and advancing solutions for animal agriculture and provides continuing education and communication linkages for animal agriculture professionals. NIAA is dedicated to programs that: work towards the eradication of disease that pose risk to the health of animals, wildlife and humans; promote a safe and wholesome from supply for our nation and abroad; and promote best practices in environmental stewardship, animal health and well-being. NIAA members represent all facets of animal agriculture.