HCM City (VNA) - After gaining encouraging results from apilot programme that allows consumers to check the origin of pork, the Ho Chi MinhCity Department of Industry and Trade last weekend announced a new plan to useinformation technology to control and trace the origin of poultry meat and eggsalso.

Nearly 30 farms supplying chicks, 339 farms supplying chickenmeat, 53 chicken egg farms, 13 poultry slaughtering and poultry meat packagingestablishments and six poultry eggs packaging establishments have registered tojoin the new programme.

In addition, the programme has received the participation of morethan 1,740 poultry meat and egg distributors or retailers in the city, saidNguyen Ngoc Hoa, the department’s deputy director.

Under the programme, consumers can trace the origin of poultrymeat from the hatching to final stages, he said, adding that they can alsotrace eggs from the breeding to final stages.

Speaking at a meeting in HCM City on July 1 to review thesix-month implementation of the programme tracing the origin of pork productsand to announce a new plan to trace the origin of poultry meat and eggs, Tran VinhTuyen, Vice Chairman of the city’s People’s Committee, said the programme hasnot been really fruitful as it was expected, but it offers encouraging results.

The programme has contributed to ensure hygiene and food safetyfor consumers, raise awareness among farmers, slaughterers and food processorsto produce products following the market’s demand, he said.

After a trial period of the programme, the city will officiallycontrol pork sources supplied to the city markets, he said.

Starting from July 31, pork without clear origins will not beallowed to be sold at Tan Xuan and Binh Dien wholesale markets in HCM City, hesaid.

Pork sold in the modern trade channel is well-controlled, sotogether with tightly controlling pork sources in traditional retail channelsthrough the two wholesale markets, all pork available at the city market willhave its origin traceable. 

At the meeting, delegates, though supporting the programme,complained of difficulties during the implementation.

Pham Van Bong, Deputy Director of Binh Duong province’s Departmentof Agriculture and Rural Development, said pig prices were low, while costs forusing necessary equipment such as rings with electronic stamps that can recordinformation to help identify are currently very high, with each costing around 3,000VND. This makes farmers hesitate to join in the programme.

In addition, recording information requires having internet accessor 3G coverage, but in remote areas where many pig breeders live, wirelessnetwork is not always available, causing difficulties to upload details aboutpigs, he said.

Hoa from the HCM City Department of Industry and Trade said thecity provides small-scale breeders with a 50 percent subsidy on the costs ofthe electronic rings for six months from March 14 to September 14. Meanwhile,farmers participating in co-operative groups or the VietGap certified pigbreeding association will get a 100 per cent subsidy until September 14, hesaid.

The department reported that 1,280 pig breeding establishments inHCM City and 15 provinces in the south, 25 abattoirs in HCM City, Dong Nai, BinhDuong, Long An and Tay Ninh and 146 traders at the two wholesale markets haveregistered to participate in the programme of tracing origins of porkproducts.-VNA