Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund (R-CALF) USA recently filed an opening brief in its lawsuit against the USDA and its proposal to mandate radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags.
The lawsuit is related to the USA Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), which requires federal agencies to follow certain protocols when using advisory committees. The suit claims USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) used two unlawful advisory committees to transition the cattle industry to exclusively use RFID tags when moving cattle interstate.
The plaintiffs, R-CALF along with private citizens and ranchers Tracy and Donna Hunt, and Kenny and Roxy Fox, are asking the court for an injunction to bar APHIS from using the advice and work from the advisory committees. R-CALF added, “as the agency forges ahead to deny cattle producers the choice to use various low-cost technologies as authorized in current law.”
