
JOHANNESBURG - The Ugandan government has announced plans to register all farmers and their cattle, including issuing "birth certificates" for the animals, so it can trace their products.
The East African reported that Vincent Ssempijja, the minister for agriculture, animal industry and fisheries said the procedure was necessary as the international market demanded that all countries producing food for the European market needed to provide proof so that the food could be traced, the East African reported.
"They want to know where the meat and crop products are coming from. They have been impounding and banning all consignments from Uganda if they find one box with issues,” he said at the official opening of the National Agricultural Show in Jinja, southern Uganda.
“Farmers will be registered and their products given barcodes so that if they find a problem with one box, they look for the source and sort out the problem. We cannot enter lucrative markets unless farmers register."
Ssempijja added that all the cattle must be registered and given "birth certificates".