- SVG GETS NATIONAL IDENTIFICATION AND TRACEABILITY SYSTEM
On Monday, November 20th 2023, at the Training Room of the Information Technology Services Division, the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines became the beneficiary of an online app, which collects and electronically records information on livestock, their keepers, health-related information and holding locations.
The handing over of the tool, assumed the form of an intra-ministerial meeting/training session involving personnel from the Animal Health and Production Division, the Extension and Advisory Services of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Information Technology Services Division, of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
This software, the National Identification and Traceability System (NAITS) was launched in the country of Georgia in 2012. Georgia’s system is now operational and Technical Advisor of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Georgia, Dragan Angelovski and his team are responsible for delivering the technology to other member countries of the FAO.
Angelovski, who facilitated the training, elaborated on the system’s capacity to document data regarding birth and origin, vaccination status, illness, health condition, and slaughterhouse protocols and procedures, to trace the full path of animals from farm to plate.
Dr. Monica Davis of the Animal Health and Production Division and Focal Point for the project gave a background of the process that led to the selection of the National Animal Identification and Traceability System.
Davis also expressed her hope that St. Vincent and the Grenadines will benefit from the use of the system in terms of food safety, the minimization of praedial larceny and the improvement of record-keeping systems nationally as well as on individual farms.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines along with Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Guyana and St. Lucia are beneficiaries of the system.
