As the Government moves to intensify its crack down on praedial larceny, a national animal identification and traceability system, which entails tagging cattle, is to be rolled out by the second quarter of this year.
Making his contribution to the 2014/15 Budget Debate in Parliament yesterday, Minister of Agriculture Roger Clarke stressed that the most potent weapon against praedial larceny “is a foolproof traceability system,” which has the additional benefit of facilitating and enhancing trade in agriculture and food safety.
Mr. Clarke says, under the programme, every head of cattle will be tagged and farmers issued a passport for the animal. This passport will contain critical information about the cattle and will be mandatory for the movement of the animal.
Asserting that the tagging system was "not a gimmic," Mr. Clarke disclosed that the relevant database had already been developed "and we are in the procurement process for the tags, which will arrive in time to facilitate the commencement of the tagging in the second quarter of this year."
Legislative measures
He also announced that the Agricultural Produce Act and the Praedial Larceny Prevention Act will be amended "to directly place penalties for Praedial Larceny under this principal legislation, to simplify the procedures for licensing all actors along the food chain as well as impose stiffer fines."
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