On January 2, 2015, the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service issued a proposed rule amending its regulations for how the agency approves livestock marketing facilities that receive animals in interstate commerce. The proposed rule provided several clarifications on how livestock can move to these facilities without official identification or before an interstate certificate of veterinary inspection (ICVI) is issued. These changes update USDA’s regulations governing livestock marketing facilities while still ensuring the animal disease traceability of livestock moved to these facilities in interstate commerce.

The USDA is seeking public comment on this proposal, and specifically on the topic of backtag placement.  The public comment period has been extended an additional 30 days. Consideration will be given to those comments received on or before April 2, 2015.

You may submit comments by either of the following methods:

Supporting documents and any comments we receive on this docket may be viewed at http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=APHIS_FRDOC_0001-1718.