AST Botswana, a subsidiary of the JSE-listed AST Group, has been awarded the contract for the design, supply and implementation of a new National Livestock Identification and Trace-back System (LITS) for Botswana`s Ministry of Agriculture.
LITS will ensure that all cattle in Botswana are individually identified and traceable throughout their lives, in compliance with new regulatory procedures required by Botswana`s main beef export market, the European Union.
About 80 to 90% of Botswana`s export beef goes to the EU market, where premium prices are obtained. The new EU regulations require that beef imported from Botswana be traceable from the BMC Export pack back to the individual animal from which the meat came.
The first phase of LITS, scheduled for completion by May 2001, involves the development of a central database and the identification of all the cattle in two pilot districts. The second phase will see the countrywide implementation of the system, during the following two years.
The LITS will ensure the long-term security of Botswana`s beef export market and will offer an additional marketing edge in new export markets.
"Manual (analogue) tags are not practical for field conditions in Botswana, as hand-written records taken at crushes, kraals and cattle posts in remote areas would result in error levels exceeding those permitted by the EU," explains Super Koontse, MD of AST Botswana. "EU regulations stipulate that a centralised computer database be kept. This has necessitated the Ministry to evaluate digital identification systems which can then be loaded directly, and free from errors, into the central database."
"All the available digital animal ID systems were evaluated," continues Koontze. "All the systems use Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) chip technology, which is safe for the animals and environmentally friendly."
"The Ministry has decided to introduce a system based on the stomach bolus," says Stewart Sanders, Project Implementation Manager for Department of Animal Health and Production in Botswana. "The bolus, recommended for use in several EU beef-supplying nations, has hardly any field losses, no criminal tampering is possible and it is easy to read because it is always in the same place."
"An additional advantage is the fact that the bolus can be recycled, saving costs and creating jobs in the rural areas. This system will provide us with improved information about informal slaughtering of cattle," adds Sanders.
The Ministry`s decision brings Botswana in line with a number of other EU beef-supplying nations, where the device is seeing increasingly widespread commercial usage.
The LITS will enable Brands Certificates and Movement Permits to be computerised, and fast access to detailed management information about cattle by DAHP staff. Furthermore, it will be far easier to identify stolen or stray cattle.
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