The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), together with the National Food Agency (NFA), has begun the process of delegating the Animal Identification and Traceability program to the private sector. Kvareli Baga is the first commercial farm where the identification-registration of animals will be carried out by farm vets instead of those hired by the National Food Agency.

An agreement between Kvareli Baga and the National Food Agency was signed today. The members of a delegation of permanent representatives in FAO from Eritrea, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, the European Union and the United States attended the signing ceremony. They are paying a four-day official visit to Georgia to study ongoing rural and agricultural development processes in the country.

According to Mikheil Sokhadze, head of the FAO Animal Identification and Traceability Program, the process permanently delegating of all identification and registration program responsibilities first to the private sector and later on to the farmers themselves is another important step towards Europe.

“Since 2012, the identification and registration program for farmers has been completely free, with the state spending 4.5 million GEL annually and hiring around 600 to 700 veterinarians or vet technicians, who enter almost every farm across the country. The delegation program, launched between the agency and Kvareli Baga, is the first step to transferring rights and responsibilities first to commercial and later to all farmers,” Sokhadze explained.

Aided by the financial support of Swiss and Austrian Developmeny Agencies, the National Food Agency has been implementing a renewed animal identification-registration system with FAO since 2016. As part of the program, the agency identifies cattle and small livestock across the country with ear tags, while information about the animal and its owner is entered in the NFA’s online database.

The FAO and the NFA believe that the private sector is ready to take this responsibility step by step. With this delegation process, the state will save about GEL 3 000 per farm annually. This money will be allocated to the stimulation activities necessary for the private sector.

It is noteworthy that the world has a common practice and approach to identification and registration, and farmers identify and register animals at their own expense. 

 “The rights and responsibilities of the identification-registration program will be gradually transferred to the private sector. At this stage, farms have been selected where veterinarians are present on site. As in previous years, the agency will provide these farms with ear tags and access to the electronic database. From 2021, when another DCFTA law comes into force, the farmers themselves will be responsible for this process,” said Zviad Asanishvili, the head of the Registration and Identification Division of the Veterinary Department of the National Food Agency. 

Identification-registration and vaccination of animals are essential for the protection of both animal and human health, therefore Kvareli Baga considers the program to be rather innovative and useful for commercial farms and farmers.  

“It is our honor to be part of the NFA’s and FAO project.  The Animal Identification and Traceability System implementation gives possibility to Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia’s representatives to assess countries epidemiological condition and take all the necessary measures for further improvements” – states Khareli Baga’s official position.  

Implementation of the NAITS program was made possible with the financial support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Austrian Development Agency (ADA).