Farm Bill won't include ban on releasing data from National Animal Identification System

The conference report on the Farm Bill will not include a Senate-added provision that would have prohibited release of information from the National Animal Identification System, which is voluntary for now but is being implemented by many states. The measure would also have blocked access to animal owners' contact information in the National Premises Information Repository, said OpenTheGovernment.org, a lobbying group that includes journalism organizations.

Patrice McDermott, the group's director, credited Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., left, for removal of the Senate provision. Leahy has been a leader in recent efforts to preserve and expand federal freedom of information.

The Senate bill also would have prohibited any non-authorized use of the information. "Members of the public and the press could face criminal or civil penalties for publishing information from the NAIS," the lobbying group warned in a letter to senators, adding that such a measure would have gone "way beyond most existing law in imposing disproportionately harsh penalties for press activities protected by the First Amendment." To read the whole letter, click here.