Ear tagging
By Arta Pllana
Hello and Welcome on UNMIK on AIR
In the beginning of September Kosovo Veterinary and Food
Agency began wa pilot project for cattle identification and registration,
sponsored by European Agency for Reconstruction.
Natural sound
Hello Daut! We are a team for identification and
registration of animals.
Daut’s farm is one of the first to take part in this
‘special’ treatment but by the beginning of May 2006, throughout Kosovo all cattle will have 2 ear tags for
identification and a passport for their lifetime.
-----------
For Daut and other farmers the ear tagging means a lot, by
means of the electronic tracking it will be easier to keep their cattle healthy
and diseases maybe effectively eliminated. He very much supports this project:
Today is the best day for me,
ear tagging in our farms is really something good , we are moving forward, and
I believe in the future will be even better.
This reliable identification system will certainly make an
advantage for the Kosovo market and consumers in the future will have a
guarantee that the products of Kosovo cattle are in good condition and they can
feel more secure. Shaip Berisha from
Veterinary Services explains:
As far as identifications are
concerned I would point out that from the birth until slaughtering procedure
animal will be under supervision of veterinary and my guess is food will be … much healthier.
With the ear tagging system working, it will be much
easier to put an end to contagious diseases, and once these risks are
eliminated the chance for our farmers to compete successfully internationally
are much higher.
Miguel Angelo, the Team leader of this EU project explains
the benefit of following of EU regulations by Kosovar farmers:
all European countries ,and
other countries that are willing to be a member of EU ,they are really adopting
this system and it is not possible anymore not to have a not reliable
identification cattle identification in this case otherwise it is not possible
to prove that your live stock is free of diseases this from that point of view it is absolutely
essential that Kosovo adopt it and I think it is going to be a good project .
2 months later and the pilot project was completed. UNMIK RADIO went back to Podujevo to find
out more on whether the projected was accepted well by farmers. Shaip Berisha
again:
As far as pilot project is
concerned we are very satisfied, owners are satisfied to, they do understand
what identification and registration means .Meanwhile we have 4 cases of birth,
we went to the farm, and immediately did the identification and registration of
the cattle.
Xhemajl Dervishi, an inspector form the Ministry of
Agriculture, forestry and Rural Development says that from the beginning of
November 2005 by law farmers will have
to fulfil all their duties regarding their animals. Otherwise the consequences
will be serious.
By 1st of may 2006
all farmers have to register their animals, otherwise they can not send their
animals to the markets , animals which do not have identification can not be
accepted in slaughter houses, at the same time Dairies will not except any milk
from unidentified cattle.
These cooperation pilot projects between the Kosovo Public
Veterinary Services and the European Agency are working well, which is a good
sign for the future.
For the farmer’s, cattle identification and registration
will help to promote Kosovo farmers interest which means healthier cattle and
more profit for them, and for the future more chances to export Kosovo meat to
the European market.
Thank you for listening to UNMIK on Air. Good day.