Animal health traceability system opens new market opportunities for herders
SocietyUlaanbaatar/MONTSAME/. Improving the export potential of Mongolia’s livestock and meat products is the goal of a new initiative being implemented under SDC’s Green Gold Animal Health Project in collaboration with the General Authority for Veterinary Services. Online “Animal Health Traceability System” that is aligned with international standards was tested in 2017 in selected soums of Arkhangai, Zavkhan and Tuvd aimags following a request from the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry.
The system traces the health of livestock from birth, enabling herders and veterinarians to provide accurate and verifiable information on animals to buyers and consumers, including health history, veterinary treatments, and geographical movements. It is designed to improve animal health surveillance, identification of epidemics and outbreaks of disease. It is based on a database at the GAVS to monitor the quality and availability of veterinary services for herders, and enables to create disease-free zones.
The system, which is backed by the new Animal Health Law,
signals a marked shift from previous supply chain practices where livestock is
sold in the market without guarantee on origin and health statues. In the
framework of this initiative, Digital Medic LLC has developed a mobile phone
application that allow customers to view information on the origin and health
of animals when buying meat. Consumers can use their phone’s barcode reader to
scan the barcode on meat packages and check
information on animal origin and health, as well as information about
the livestock owner and processing plant. The system being up scaled nationwide
since December 2019 by the GAVS in cooperation with SDC Green Gold Animal
Health Project.
In recent days, the project team is working to link the
system, which was designed and introduced not only to veterinary organizations
but also to consumers of animal product users, to the private business sector
for reaching more beneficiaries.