Livestock Traceability is Indispensable

The biggest challenge facing the region is to meet the health, environmental and competitiveness standards demanded by those markets, said Alexander Acosta, from the United Nations Organization for Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

"The world is facing a livestock revolution, which is associated with the exponential growth of products of animal origin, mainly meat, milk and eggs. Achieving competitiveness and development of the livestock sector will thus depend on the agricultural policies that countries define and implement in this regard", the executive told Prensa.com

Panamanian Vice Minister of Agricultural Development, Gerardino Batista acknowledged that the Traceability Act and the expansion of toxic waste laboratories in Panama are outstanding issues that are preventing the entry of meat to new markets.

Source: Prensa.com

More on this topic

$5.8 million Invested in Cattle Traceability

March 2012

The Nicaraguan Government’s National Cattle Traceability Program has invested $5.8 million and to date has managed to register 260,000 head of cattle from the five thousand registered ranches.

From a press release from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (Magfor):

Livestock tracking program in Nicaragua

January 2012

The Livestock Tracking Program has been launched in Nicaragua. During a first phase, records of some 200,000 animals will be started.

Nicaragua's General Office of Animal Protection and Sanitation (DGPSA in Spanish), a department within the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAGFOR), announced the beginning of the Livestock Tracking Program.

Nicaragua: Little Progress in Livestock Traceability

November 2009

Only 10% of the nation's breeders have implemented the traceability system, due to lack of funding.

Traceability implies storing and retrieving records for each animal documenting any relevant events, from its birth to when its meat reaches the consumer.

The United States and the European Union will require traceability for any meat they import from 2010 onwards.

Honduras Pushes for Bovine Traceability

September 2011

The Ministry of Agriculture will receive experts from Uruguay to advise on the subject next week.

The traceability system involves maintaining and making available animal identification details and registration of all activities to which it is subjected, from birth until the meat reaches the consumer.