BELIZE PRESENTS ITS NATIONAL LIVESTOCK REGISTRY DATABASE

Belmopan, 16 December 2009.- The Embassy of Mexico hosted this afternoon the ceremony in which the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) presented the National Livestock Registry Database of Belize. The event was another step in the process to prepare the export of Belizean livestock to Mexico.

The Belizean livestock registry database is a tool to implement a proper traceability of livestock. Traceability is an element that contributes to confidence building and security in trade. Due to the importance of the subject for Belize, IICA provided the appropriate support for the installation and operation of the Livestock Registry. A group of consultants in charge of the project presented the system to livestock producers and other stakeholders.

The Government of Mexico, through its Ministry of Agriculture (SAGARPA) and its Agriculture Health Authority (SENASICA), has been following this Belizean initiative. In order to support the Livestock Registry of Belize, the Government of Mexico approved the participation of a collecting data and programming specialist of the Livestock Identification National System of Mexico (SINIIGA) to ensure the compatibility and complementarities of cattle sanitary testing and ear tagging with the information obtained through the Livestock Registry. The information stored in its database will allow the identification of farms and producers, as well as the identification of cattle and its movements.

The ceremony was headed by H.E. Ambassador Alexis Rosado, CEO of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Mr. Eugene Waight, Chief Agriculture Officer of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Dr. Gabriel Rodriguez, IICA Representative to Belize, and H.E. Luis Manuel Lopez-Moreno, Ambassador of Mexico.

Attendants to the ceremony highlighted the progress being made on the project to export Belizean cattle to Mexico. They reiterated the importance of the collaboration of stakeholders and to legally recognize the Livestock Registry by introducing the appropriate legal amendments. They also mentioned plans for promoting livestock exports to the European Union in 2011. The Government of Belize committed itself to provide the necessary support and to take advantage of the opportunities for cooperation with Mexico and international organizations.

A NATIONAL LIVESTOCK REGISTRY DATABASE FOR BELIZE HAS BEEN CREATED

The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture has handed over to local authorities the National Livestock Registry Database of Belize. Ceremonies were held in Belmopan on Wednesday. The Belize livestock registry database is a tool to implement a proper traceability of livestock, an element that contributes to confidence building and security in trade. The information stored in its database will allow the identification of farms and producers, as well as the identification of cattle and its movements. Those in attendance at yesterday’s launching of the database highlighted the progress being made on the project to export Belizean cattle to Mexico. They reiterated the importance of the collaboration of stakeholders and to legally recognize the Livestock Registry by introducing the appropriate legal amendments. They also mentioned plans for promoting livestock exports to the European Union in 2011. The Government of Belize committed itself to provide the necessary support and to take advantage of the opportunities for cooperation with Mexico and international organizations. The Government of Mexico, through its Ministry of Agriculture and its Agriculture Health Authority, has been following this Belizean initiative with keen interest. So much so that the Government of Mexico approved the participation of a collecting data and programming specialist from the Livestock Identification National System of Mexico to ensure the compatibility and complementarities of cattle sanitary testing and ear tagging with the information obtained through the Livestock Registry. Present at Wednesday’s presentation of the Belize National Livestock Registry Database were Ambassador Alexis Rosado of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Chief Agriculture Officer Eugene Waight, IICA’s country Representative in Belize Dr. Gabriel Rodriguez and Mexico’s ambassador to Belize Luis Manuel Lopez-Moreno.

LOVEFM