November 5, 2003

Taiwan To Adopt Radio Frequency Identification For Its Hog Industry
 

Advanced ID Corporation, a pioneer in the radio frequency identification (RFID) market, announced yesterday that it would supply 10,000 of its RFID tags plus readers to the Government of Taiwan for the establishment of Taiwan's national identification program for its hog industry. 

Dr. Chien Lin, Whei-Jun, Legislator in the National Yuan representing Tainan, Taiwan, has commissioned a field test to utilize Advanced ID Corporation's ultra high frequency RFID tags and readers to assist in Taiwan's hog industry.  Dr. Chien Lin is proposing legislation requiring mandatory identification of all hogs which encompasses approximately 20,000 hog producers and 16 million hogs.

Dr. Chien Lin stated, "We need to establish a mandatory identification and trace back program to minimize or eliminate the impact of biosecurity and food safety issues.  With the devastation of our hog industry from foot and mouth disease in 1999, we have been seeking a cost effective solution to re-establish our presence in export markets.  We are planning to implement a government funded program to minimize costs to the industry."

The field test consists of the identification and tracking of 10,000 hogs throughout their production cycle, for a period of approximately six months.  The Taiwan government has allocated $2 to $3 million NT for the implementation of such field test which will be conducted at five locations.  Upon successful conclusion of the field test, the Government of Taiwan has acknowledged its goal to acquire up to 8 million RFID tags and 30,000 readers for all hog farms, auction sites and processing facilities as the standard for its identification and trace back system.

Barry Bennett, President and CEO of Advanced ID, stated, "With the success of our field test at the Cargill beef processing plant facilitated with the assistance of the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency in September, the Government of Taiwan was convinced that our ultra high frequency RFID tags offered the best system for livestock identification.  We look forward to assisting the Government of Taiwan with the integration of our RFID technology, and to providing a solution for their livestock identification needs."