IV‐6 Traceability The authority and capability of the VS to identify animals and animal products under their mandate and trace their history, location and distribution.
Levels of advancement
The VS do not have the capability to identify animals or animal
The VS can document the history of some animals and animal
The VS have procedures in place to identify and trace selected
animals and animal products as required for disease control and food safety purposes, in accordance with relevant international standards. 4. The VS and their stakeholders have coordinated national procedures in place that can identify and trace animals and animal
products as required for disease control and food safety purposes.
The VS, in cooperation with their stakeholders, carry out audits
of their traceability procedures.
Results Strengths : An effective traceability system in individual cattle and small ruminant lots south of the VCF through ear tags in cattle and movement permits (NamLITS) As a result of the Millennium Challenge Program the implementation and enforcement of such measures north of the VCF is soon to be initiated Weaknesses : Traceability system is not fully implemented north of the VCF, yet No efforts on traceability of less important species (poultry and swine). Supporting documentation (documents or photos): A guide to Livestock Traceability in Namibia Version 1.01 ‐ March 2007 www.namlits.com Detailed findings during visit: NamLITS: The Namibian livestock identification and traceability system (NamLITS) grew from a need to meet international market requirements and assure clients of the integrity of the national livestock and meat production system. Before the implementation of the current NamLITS system, Namibia had a movement permit system which allowed the movement of cloven hoofed domestic livestock to be traced back to the herd of origin on a group basis. The current NamLITS system is computer based and allows for the individual identification of cattle and for the identification on a group basis for small ruminants. The system has been incorporated into the Farm Assured Namibian Meat (FAN Meat) scheme. The Meat Board of Namibia (MBN) is the coordinator of the FAN Meat Scheme; it assists in the management and coordination of the traceability system, which is enforced by the VS. The traceability system is based on three pillars: a) the Stock Brand system, which is used to allocate brand symbols to each livestock owner (owner identification code); b) the Ear Tag