26 April 2011
The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry has dismissed reports that the Livestock Identification and Traceability System in the Northern Communal Areas (NCAs) will be implemented along traditional authority lines reminiscent of the colonial era.
“The suggestion that the ear tags will be allocated according to the traditional affiliations of the owners are not correct,” Dr Cleopas Bamhare, acting chief veterinary officer in the Directorate of Veterinary Services in the Ministry said in a statement last week.
Bamhare said the traceability system has been designed to comply with post-independence legislation specifically the Stock Brands Act and Stock Brand Regulations.
The identification system consists of ear tags which bear a prefix identifying the region as well as the animal’s unique number. These are registered against the details of the owner as well as the nearest crush pen.
To make visual inspections easier, the tags for the different regions have different colour codes. Details of ownership will be stored on a secure database and only be available to authorised persons. There will be nothing on the ear tags to indicate the owner or exact geographical origin of the animals.
The implementation of the traceability system in the NCA is part of a series of interventions outlined in the national policy on the eradication of transboundary animal disease in the NCA which is designed to ameliorate the negative effects of the veterinary cordon.
In summary the system consist of the identification of cattle by means of individual and unique ear tags placed on all animals in the NCA. The numbers are recorded on a database and together with the use of movement permits will allow the tracking of movements of individual animals as well as recording veterinary interventions such as vaccinations done on both herds and individual animals.
Other records kept will include the owner of the animals as well as the region of normal residence of the animals.
All significant movements from and within a given area will be recorded. This data is essential to manage animal diseases and to quickly trace animals in the event of a disease event.
This will allow the quick identification of animals which may have been exposed to any identified risks thus allowing for a rapid and appropriate response. This will avoid the treatment of the livestock population in the NCA as one herd as is currently the case.
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