To track animals, animal health officials must know where they are born and where they are moved. Therefore, identifying locations that manage or hold animals—referred to as premises—is the starting point of the NAIS. Each premises will be identified with a unique seven character identifier, or a Premises Identification Number (PIN).

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has amended the regulations to recognize for official use the 7-character PIN.

The following shows the 12 pieces of information that will be stored in a national premises system:

National Premises Information Repository—Data Elements

• Premises ID Number
• Name of Entity
• Owner or Appropriate Contact Person*
• Street Address
• City
• State
• Zip/Postal Code
• Contact Phone Number
• Operation Type (e.g., production unit, exhibition, abattoir, etc.)
• Date Activated
• Date Retired (e.g., date operation is sold, date operation is no longer maintaining livestock)
• Reason Retired

*The contact person should be the person the animal health official is to communicate with when performing a traceback (as determined by the entity).

As USDA and its partners move forward with the NAIS, they will also be working to obtain information about specific animals or groups of animals that have been assigned official identification numbers. Only information necessary for animal health officials to be able to track suspect animals and identify any other animals that may have been exposed to the disease will be maintained.

As it comes online, the NAIS will be a fundamental tool for carrying out animal health monitoring and surveillance programs. State and federal animal health officials will be able to access a centralized NAIS database continually, so that they may more quickly ascertain a Herd’s health status and issue intra- and interstate animal movement certificates.

Eventually, the NAIS will allow animal health officials to identify all animals and premises that have had contact with a foreign or domestic animal disease of concern within 48 hours after discovery. As an information system that provides for rapid tracing of infected and exposed animals during an outbreak situation, the NAIS will help limit the scope of such outbreaks and ensure that they are contained and eradicated as quickly as possible.