American Cervid Alliance

Federal Program Standards Negotiations Given Sixty Day Extension

May 2, 2013

Federal Program Standards Negotiations Given Sixty Day Extension

Standards Working Group to Conclude in June

 The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has granted the Federal CWD Standards Working Group sixty more days to suggest revisions to the standards document before it will be submitted for public comment.  The decision came from the USDA’s Dr. John Clifford in Washington DC last month.

  The Standards Working Group first met in January and was given ninety days to negotiate and suggest changes to the CWD Program Standards. The Working Group has already exceeded the ninety days.  The three cervid industry representatives – Eric Molhman, Shawn Shafer and Charly Seale, have stated the industry needs more time to continue to address problematic language in the document.  The additional sixty days will allow the group to continue its work.

 Last month the ACA Council delivered a unanimous 24-0 vote to allow the standards negotiating process to continue as long as the Standards Working Group was willing to keep making changes. Although many industry leaders hoped the negotiation process would be open ended, the USDA said the process will be completed after sixty days, which started on April 22, 2013.

Over the last week, the Working Group’s industry representatives, along with several state veterinarians, drafted an alternative document that reflects favorable industry changes. The suggested changes document will be presented to the other stakeholders of the working group, which includes representatives from APHIS, wildlife agencies, and NVSL, during the next meeting on May 6th.  The industry representatives should have a clear indication if these suggested changes will be accepted by the other members of the working group by the conclusion of that meeting.  

 The ACA Council plans to convene later this month to assess the latest progress report of the Working Group negotiations.  Twenty-nine deer and elk associations have now officially registered as council members to offer their membership’s input to the council. 


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