Stakeholders and especially farmers are being reminded that it is illegal to buy, sell or slaughter cattle that are not affixed with the National Animal Identification and Traceability System (NAITS) ear tags.
“Our goal is to protect our small farmers, to protect livestock farming and praedial larceny is one of the greatest deterrents, and one of the greatest negative impact on the sector; and so we have a very deliberate and purposeful approach to making sure that we get everybody to be aware of the laws, of the regulations and we do everything as a government to facilitate the farmers abiding by the law,” said Pearnel Charles Jr, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries.
Minister Charles was speaking at a tagging exercise conducted in Alexandria, St. Ann, on Wednesday September 21, 2022 where the Ministry promoted tagging of bovine animals with farmers who were recently affected by an incident in the area.
NAITS is being implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries through its Veterinary Services Division with the view to enhance traceability of animals and products of animal origin to safeguard animal health and public health. The system aims to strengthen food safety by enhancing animal disease surveillance and supports development of a modern livestock sector aligned with international standards.
The main components of the NAITS include the registration of bovine animals and establishments, identification of animals and the recording of data. This involves the use of visual ear tags and movement document called the cattle passport.
To date, in excess of 60,000 heads of cattle have been tagged islandwide under the NAITS, 12, 800 of which are located in St. Ann.
All stakeholders involved in cattle rearing, sale or slaughter are again being reminded that The Animals (Diseases and Importation) (Marking of Bovine Animals) Regulations, 2015 mandates that all cattle be identified under the NAITS with ear tags and issued with the corresponding passports. Persons involved in the cattle industry, including cattle owners, butchers, transporters of cattle, meat shop operators and all retailers of beef who are found in breach of The Animals (Diseases and Importation) (Marking of Bovine Animals) Regulations, 2015 are subject to fines and or imprisonment.
Section 14 of the regulations state that a person shall not, unless a valid bovine passport accompanies the bovine animal and a valid ear tag is attached to each ear of the bovine animal:
Importantly, no cattle should be transported along the thoroughfares or moved from any farm or holding without a valid bovine passport accompanying the bovine animal and a valid ear tag is attached to each of the animal’s ears.
All cattle farmers are therefore asked to immediately contact VSD to arrange for their cattle to be tagged in accordance with the law, free of cost. Similarly, purchasers and traders of cattle, including butchers must not purchase animals, which are not tagged under the NAITS and are not accompanied by valid cattle passports.
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