Animal identification and registration s a key tool for animal health and food safety and is a ‘must’ to maintain consumer confidence in national products of animal origin and to assure international market access for livestock and animal products.
It further may improve the competitiveness of the livestock sector in the country and thus may contribute to sustainable economic development in the rural areas.
Compared to the obligatory countrywide registrations of births and movements as it is applied in EU member states countries with less favourable livestock production conditions may opt for a regional approach (zoning) and modified arrangements for tagging, birth registration and movement control. A major tool of an Animal I&R system is the database which maintains all relevant information and provides a comprehensive insight into animal movements and contacts between animals at any time. This will help the veterinary service to control and eradicate diseases and also to react faster and more effectively, should an outbreak of cattle disease occur. In addition, there is the advantage in tracing the relevant animals right back to the individual farm, should there be a public health hazard.
The introduction of an international compliant Animal I&R system turns out to be challenging project, which is complex and require a careful phasing of the project activities in a planning, preparation and implementation phase.