STOP NAIS IN VIRGINIA!!

NAIS VIRGINIA SCRAPIE REGS EFFECTIVE OCTOBER 3 -- UNLESS BLOCKED

***COME TO JCAR MEETING SEPTEMBER 11, RICHMOND*** 

WHEN: Thursday, September 11, 2008, 10:00 a.m.
WHERE: Senate Room A, First Floor, General Assembly Building, Richmond, Virginia
WHY:  To request the Joint Commission on Administrative Rules (JCAR) suspend the scrapie regs

Mandatory scrapie regulations that will force Virginia goat and sheep owners into NAIS, and drive many out of business, will take effect October 3, unless the Joint Commission on Administrative Rules (JCAR) votes to suspend them when they meet September 11 in Richmond.  (The Governor must concur, so we must contact him also).
             
ACTIONS:

1.  Email and call members of JCAR with the message:  Vote to suspend the effective date of the regulation until after the 2009 General Assembly so legislators can deal with the issue.   Delegate Gear is sponsor of HB1525, a bill that would limit the regulations, please thank him.  Senators Martin and Wagner, and Delegate Hull also co-signed.   Please thank them. (See "BACKGROUND" below).

2. COME TO RICHMOND SEPTEMBER 11 FOR THE JCAR MEETING. There is a good chance JCAR will vote to suspend if we support this proposition.  PLEASE BE THERE, WE NEED MANY PEOPLE PRESENT.

PLEASE BE THERE, MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD! 

Virginia regulation 2 VAC 5-206, Regulation for Scrapie Eradication, will require sheep and goat owners to:

1. Register their farms and obtain a Premises Identification Number
2. Keep records for 5 years every time they buy, sell, barter, lease, trade, loan, exhibit, or otherwise move a sexually intact goat or sheep, unless the animal goes directly to slaughter. Records can be inspected by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumers Services (VDACS)
   
   • Any violation is punishable by a year in jail and/or a $2500 fine.
     
   • Scrapie is not a public health threat.  It is also not an animal health issue. In Virginia there has never been a case in goats, no cases in white-faced or hair sheep for the last ten years, and only a handful of cases in black-faced sheep.  These regulations are simply a vehicle for forcing us into NAIS through the backdoor--farms registered for scrapie will be rolled into the National Animal Identification System if it becomes law.
     
   • There is no reason for these regulations be so burdensome--many other states have much less stringent regulations and are still considered “scrapie consistent” under federal requirements.

BACKGROUND: We spoke to the JCAR on January 8, 2008 and they urged us to seek a legislative solution.  We got a bill filed, HB1525, that would limit the regulations considerably.  The bill was carried over (not voted on) until the 2009 General Assembly to give the Virginia Dept. of Agriculture a chance to change the regulation.  The Department changed nothing.

Contact Joint Commission members and Governor Kaine

Governor Tim Kaine:
Email (form) http://www.governor.virginia.gov/AboutTheGovernor/contactGovernor.cfm
Write: Office of the Governor
Patrick Henry Building, 3rd Floor
1111 East Broad Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219
Phone: (804) 786-2211
Fax: (804) 371-6351
              
Directions to General Assembly Building: http://vicfa.net/genassdir.pdf   
Link for regulation:  http://legis.state.va.us/codecomm/register/issfiles.htm Click on “Volume 24” then on “August 18, 2008 (Volume 24, Issue 25)” (PDF or word.doc version)
Information: Christine Solem 434.973.6505

Yours for food freedom,
Deborah Stockton, Editor
VICFA Voice
www.VICFA.net

Virginia Independent Consumers and Farmers Association
Our purpose is to promote and preserve unregulated direct farmer-to-consumer trade 
that fosters availability of locally grown or home-produced food products.