Health inspectors urged to block slaughter of stolen cattle
Published:Monday | October 23, 2023 | 12:05 AMChristopher Serju/Senior Gleaner Writer
Consultant veterinarian Dr Kevin Walker has appealed to public health inspectors to ensure that butchers and operators of abattoirs only slaughter cattle that are presented with ear tags and animal passports issued under the National Animal Identification and Traceability System (NAITS).
NAITS was designed to achieve greater traceability in the food value chain and close the existing loopholes in food safety.
“If you go to an abattoir and persons are bringing in animals to slaughter and they don’t have the tags, they are breaking the law. They are supposed to come with the tags and the passport to show ownership. It is something that the public health inspector is supposed to look at because there is actually something on it for you to sign, under the law,” Walker said as he addressed a recent sensitisation session for public health inspectors in Kingston.
Ripple effect
He suggested that if the public health inspectors were to prohibit butchers from killing cattle without tags, it could have a ripple effect in reducing praedial larceny as crooks would not be able to have stolen animals butchered legally.
“[It’s] the same with the police officers,” said Walker. “If they see trucks transporting cattle and they stop it and these animals not tagged, you would severely reduce the movement of stolen animals on the street.”
He explained that the ear tags allow for greater traceability as DNA samples are collected from each animal and additional information is kept in a database including the name of the owner, which is updated if the animal is sold.
He further urged health inspectors to reach out to the Veterinary Services Division if they ever need assistance.
While NAITS has been useful in helping to trace stolen cattle, its primary purpose is to enhance the 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 the development of a modern livestock sector aligned with international standards.
All stakeholders involved in cattle rearing, sale or slaughter are mandated under the Animals (Diseases and Importation) (Marking of Bovine Animals) Regulations, 2015 to ensure that all cattle are identified under the NAITS with ear tags and issued with the corresponding passports. Also, persons involved in the cattle industry, including owners, butchers, transporters of cattle, meat shop operators and all retailers of beef who are found in breach of the legislation are subject to fines and/or imprisonment.
More than three years ago, former minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, J.C. Hutchinson, declared a six-month deadline for all cattle to be registered under NAITS.
“As we move to tighten the noose on cattle thieves, I wish to take this opportunity to announce to this Honourable House and to the country that effective January 1, 2021, all cattle must have ear tags and corresponding passports. Tag your animals so we can trace them and keep them out of the hands of the praedial thieves,” he said in his contribution to the Sectoral Debate.
Expansion of trade
However, all stakeholders are yet to embrace the mandatory system, a situation that Walker said was costing Jamaica dearly in terms of commerce and the expansion of trade.
“It is one of our biggest non-tariff barriers for trade that we do not have a [fully functioning] traceability system. That is why our beef patties cannot be exported commercially to the US because we do not have a proper traceability system. They will say that we do not have equivalence; that’s the term they use. So to trade with them you need to have equivalence. That is one of the reasons that we have been pushing the system, so that we can get into certain markets,” he explained, suggesting that small ruminants would soon come under the system.
Walker noted that in addition to movement, the cattle’s death – slaughter or otherwise – must be reported.
“The farmer has an obligation to call the animal health technician or the parish vet to come and register the death of the animal, after an examination. This is very important because it helps us with surveillance, so that we can detect the emergence of certain diseases which the country is free from,” he said.
“It has a very important role to protect public health, so we can know what animals are going into the abattoir, if they were treated by the vet, if there are any health issues with it,” he further told the public health inspectors.