Discussion of the USDA-generated “A Business Plan to Advance Animal Disease Traceability” and pending implementation of Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL) are two key topics for the 2008 ID-INFO Workshop set for April 3 in Indianapolis, IN.

This year’s one-day workshop will be held in conjunction with the National Institute for Animal Agriculture’s (NIAA) annual meeting.

USDA’s Business Plan to Advance Animal Disease Traceability headlines the morning session with National Animal Identification System (NAIS) coordinator Neil Hammerschmidt providing a plan update. Following will be a discussion on the plan’s challenges and opportunities from three perspectives: state, industry and information systems.

Attendees will then hear a 30-minute review of the COOL program.

After lunch, workshop participants will divide up into groups of 20 or less to address six questions related to NAIS and COOL. Key findings of each group will be summarized at the end of the afternoon and be submitted to USDA as important industry consensus points.

Registration for the one-day ID-INFO Workshop is $150/person.

To learn more about the workshop on April 3 or NIAA’s annual meeting April 1-3, visit NIAA’s Web site at www.animalagriculture.org or call NIAA at (270) 782-9798.