Poultry ID system planned for Thailand

The department hopes that the implementation of RFID will help to convince the export market that Thailand conforms to high standards. There is an existing traceability system, but this is manually recorded. Information includes slaughters, animal feed, drugs, livestock products, animal nutrition, and biological products.

“The national animal ID system will be a significant foundation,” said department director general Yukol Limlamthong.

Thailand’s animal identification system is expected to comply with the International Committee for Animal Recording (ICAR) and ISO 11784 and ISO 11785.

Yukol noted that there are around 10,000 farms and poultry-related companies nationwide. Thailand is a leading chicken exporter, with exports valued at 30 billion baht (around €626 million) per year. By comparison, pork exports come to around one billion baht (less than €21 million).

Mr Yukol said that the government would invest in the core system, while the private sector would finance the links to the central database at the department. This would be the most cost-effective solution for the industry, he said.

When there is an incident such as an outbreak of disease, authorities can identify particular containers without terminating the whole supply, the director general said.

“Once the RFID implementation is complete, we would encourage consumers to choose the certified food products,” he said.

The project will be undertaken in cooperation with technology company Nectec.