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U.S. Bill Includes RFID Provision for Pets
The coalition pushed for the inclusion of the APHIS directive in the appropriations bill, which was supported by U.S. Congressman Henry Bonilla, a Texas Republican and chairman of the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee. Congressman Greg Walden, a Republication from Oregon, also supported the directive.So did Banfield, which hired Mark Cushing, a partner with Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, to lobby for the bill on his client’s behalf.
The legislation language does not specify what standard will be used. In fact, it doesn't specify that an ISO standard be used—although its original language did include a specification for the ISO 134.2 standard. Rather, it supports "the microchipping of pets for identification under a system of open microchip technology in which all scanners can read all chips." It also directs APHIS to "take into consideration the effect such regulation may have on the current practice of microchipping pets in this country." APHIS, therefore, could rule that all readers must be able to read all tag protocols and encrypted tags, or it could go further and require that all parties tagging pets and/or identifying lost pets use ISO 11784 and 11785 tags and interrogators capable of reading both 134.2 kHz and125 kHz tags.
Banfield says it supports the adoption of 134.2 kHz ISO 11784 and 11785 tags and interrogators, but it also has a vested interest in tags and readers that comply with that standard because it might reintroduce its tagging service some time in the future. Used widely for pet identification in Canada, Europe, Australia and parts of Asia,, 134.2 kHz tags are also utilized in the United States for identifying wildlife, fish, zoo animals and livestock. Advocates of the 134.2 tags note that pet owners who relocate or travel to other countries might need either to have their pets tagged with ISO-compliant 134.2 kHz tags or, if another type of tag is already implanted, to bring their own reader with them to the border crossing so they can show officials that the animal is tagged.
Cushing believes there are no issues within the appropriations bill that might result in a veto, and that President Bush is likely to sign it in the coming days. When he does, Cushing notes, APHIS will have 90 days to report on its progress regarding the development of appropriate regulations, as directed by the bill.
The legislation language does not specify what standard will be used. In fact, it doesn't specify that an ISO standard be used—although its original language did include a specification for the ISO 134.2 standard. Rather, it supports "the microchipping of pets for identification under a system of open microchip technology in which all scanners can read all chips." It also directs APHIS to "take into consideration the effect such regulation may have on the current practice of microchipping pets in this country." APHIS, therefore, could rule that all readers must be able to read all tag protocols and encrypted tags, or it could go further and require that all parties tagging pets and/or identifying lost pets use ISO 11784 and 11785 tags and interrogators capable of reading both 134.2 kHz and125 kHz tags.
Banfield says it supports the adoption of 134.2 kHz ISO 11784 and 11785 tags and interrogators, but it also has a vested interest in tags and readers that comply with that standard because it might reintroduce its tagging service some time in the future. Used widely for pet identification in Canada, Europe, Australia and parts of Asia,, 134.2 kHz tags are also utilized in the United States for identifying wildlife, fish, zoo animals and livestock. Advocates of the 134.2 tags note that pet owners who relocate or travel to other countries might need either to have their pets tagged with ISO-compliant 134.2 kHz tags or, if another type of tag is already implanted, to bring their own reader with them to the border crossing so they can show officials that the animal is tagged.
Cushing believes there are no issues within the appropriations bill that might result in a veto, and that President Bush is likely to sign it in the coming days. When he does, Cushing notes, APHIS will have 90 days to report on its progress regarding the development of appropriate regulations, as directed by the bill.
