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November 14, 2003
LEADING BEEF INDUSTRY DATA SERVICES COMPANIES UNITE TO ESTABLISH
BEEF INFORMATION EXCHANGE
IRVING, Texas, October 7, 2003 – A coalition
of five leading agricultural data service companies today
announced plans to create the beef industry’s first
data exchange standards. The five participating companies,
each actively involved in the USDA-APHIS National Identification
Development Team, are establishing the Beef Information Exchange
to address the need for a uniform set of data movement standards
among the nation’s beef industry producers.
Initially, the Beef Information Exchange
will facilitate rapid and secure sharing of data required
for a national identification system to address potential
mandatory identification and traceback requirements. The system
may be expanded over time to accommodate a greater variety
of production data. Establishing common data sharing standards
is critical to the future of the beef industry because it
creates a standard information platform which will allow for
greater operational efficiency, reduced supply chain uncertainties,
and potentially lower costs.
Neil Hammerschmidt, co-chair of the National
ID Development Team Steering Committee stated: “This
is a great effort and is the type of cooperation we need among
the industry service providers to successfully support regulatory
programs. Having a practical and cost effective information
infrastructure to achieve timely traceback is critical if
we ever need to respond to the unfortunate incursion of a
foreign animal disease.”
The coalition members issued the following
statement regarding their joint efforts: “All segments
of the U.S. beef industry are faced with adopting new technologies
to comply with upcoming economic and regulatory requirements.
As data service providers to this industry, we expect to play
a significant role in enabling this adoption. We believe that
this type of cooperation is essential and should be a model
for a diverse industry to come together to achieve their common
goals.”
The organizing companies involved in this
coalition include: AgInfoLink USA, Longmont, CO (www.aginfolink.com);
APEIS, Norfolk, NE (www.apeis.com); eMerge Interactive, Inc.,
Sebastian, FL (www.emergeinteractive.com); IMI Global, Inc.,
Platte City, MO (www.imiglobal.com); Micro Beef Technologies
Ltd., Amarillo, TX (www.microbeef.com).
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