WEEKLY SENATE UPDATE

January 30, for the Week of February 1 through February 7, 2004

“Using Maine Technology to Strengthen Food Safety”

Its clinical name is bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) – but we know it by its more common name, "mad cow disease." The discovery of the disease in a Holstein cow at a farm in Washington state caused concern among consumers, and major panic among producers, as more than 40 nations banned American beef from their stores, and cattle prices tumbled.

But the case has also illustrated a major shortcoming in our food safety system. Since the disease was believed to be transmitted to the infected cow in its feed, and symptoms take years to appear, officials needed to track down other cattle in that Holstein’s herd, cattle that would have been likely to eat the same feed – and may have been exposed to the disease.

Even now, though, federal agencies have not located all 81 cows in that herd. Even though officials reassure us that the risk to humans is minimal in this case, there is no question that by improving our ability to track livestock, we can enhance the security of our animals, our farms, and our food supply – and a company from the town of Raymond, Maine, could lead the way.

EmbedTech Industries is a small business with a unique specialty. The entrepreneurs there have developed a way to securely and inexpensively encase radio frequency identification (RFID) chips in plastic. The chips are then secure, protected from damage or sabotage, and readable with a scanner similar to a barcode reader. The technology has a vast number of possibilities, but its potential use to track livestock is in some ways, most intriguing. The concept is simple – by attaching an RFID-embedded ear tag to a calf, you create a system that can measure much more than just who owns an animal. The RFID chips are computer chips, a portable, recordable and scannable medium on which to record not just ownership, but full histories, such as vaccinations, growth measurements, and other critical information.

The promise this technology holds is why I have joined a bipartisan group of senators as a co-sponsor of the Animal Health Protection Act, which would direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a program to use technology like that developed by EmbedTech to electronically track the nation’s livestock. The U.S. Department of Agriculture already has the authority to implement a livestock tracking system – but it has lacked the funding and the technology. The bill provides $25 million to establish the system, technology that would have made tracking the 81 head of cattle in the current BSE case faster and more accurate, and could accomplish much more.

Our bill could be just the beginning. Since its introduction, President Bush has announced the inclusion of $60 million in the fiscal 2005 budget to fund a national cattle identification system, along with increased surveillance, and research and development into mad cow disease. By strengthening our ability to track and identify livestock, we can inspire confidence in our farm communities, protecting the farmers, as well as the farms. In Maine, that means 395 dairy farms and more than 2,000 jobs.

And those are just the jobs we have now. RFID chips are tiny, but their economic promise is immense for Maine. As a state, we are positioned to capture a share of this high-tech growth industry through companies like EmbedTech, as well as chipmakers, label makers and more. In short, we could create a winning environment for Maine farmers, consumers and workers. The electronic animal identification system could provide an affordable means of protecting the nation’s food supply, inspiring confidence in consumers and potentially, creating a growth manufacturing sector in the Maine economy.