Idaho panel approves streamlined animal‑industry rules, clarifies electronic health certificates

BOISE, Idaho — The House Agriculture Affairs Committee voted to approve a package of administrative rule changes governing animal industries that agency officials said mostly simplify and remove language duplicate to statute while clarifying modern practices such as electronic certificates of veterinary inspection.

The committee approved docket number 020403-2401 after a presentation by Scott Lively, administrator of the Division of Animal Industries at the Idaho State Department of Agriculture and state veterinarian, and Lloyd Knight, deputy director for the department. Lively told the committee the rule changes are largely “simplification, clarification and elimination of duplicative language.”

Lively summarized the rule as a general regulatory framework for livestock operations covering official documents, duties of department livestock officials, reportable and notifiable livestock diseases, quarantine protocols, movement restrictions, cleaning and disinfecting affected conveyances and declaring animal‑health emergencies. He said many incorporated federal documents were struck from the rule because they are maintained by federal agencies and therefore redundant in state rule.

Lively said the rule explicitly recognizes electronic certificates of veterinary inspection (CVI) as valid movement documents and aligns Idaho’s data fields with national data standards developed by the National Assembly of State Animal Health Officials (referred to in the presentation as NASHNO). He told members an electronic CVI enforces completion of critical fields and can be shown on a mobile device instead of requiring a paper printout.

On disease reporting, Lively reviewed Idaho’s lists of reportable and notifiable diseases and described the practical change in testing and lab work: many tests are now performed only by laboratories in the National Animal Health Laboratory Network and the department typically receives laboratory notification of positives quickly. He said the rule retains the department’s authority to add diseases by administrative order if an emerging disease requires it.

During questions, committee members asked about updates to standards incorporated by reference (Lively said veterinarian accreditation standards had not changed between the 2008 and 2024 versions retained) and about avian influenza. Lively told the committee Idaho has had multiple backyard poultry positives in recent weeks and that 35 dairies had been infected over the previous 10 months; one dairy remained under quarantine. He urged producers to practice biosecurity measures such as cleaning boots and limiting cross‑site movement.

Representative McCann moved approval of docket 020403-2401; the committee approved the docket by voice vote. Committee members asked department staff to provide links and resources for reviewing incorporated documents online.

Agency officials said the rulemaking used negotiated rulemaking meetings and public comment; Lively said the changes create few regulatory impacts because statutory language already governs much of the subject matter.

The department will make the revised rule and incorporated references available through the IDAPA website for review, agency staff said.