September 17, 2008

Thailand's Department of Livestock Development is developing a project that would improve the domestic chicken industry's traceability system.

The project, called "e-traceability", seeks to encourage domestic poultry meat producers and processors to adopt the system of recording information so that it can be traced back easily.

The project is running a one-year pilot that aims to introduce the traceability model in the chicken industry from farm to slaughter. The concept is that the department will create a web-based application to allow 8,000 chicken farms in Thailand to access and record their farm information easily without having to invest money. Required information includes pedigree or parentage, feedmill, pharmacy, hatchery, broiler, slaughter and further processing.

The department also plans to set up systems, including a database server and application server, to allow poultry industry players to record information about the production process using the web-based application. 

The department has invested THB 27 million (US$785,132) to set up the system and will allow all chicken industry players to join on a voluntary basis.

It is hoped that at least 50 farmers and processors would be involved in the one-year project and that all chicken producers would use the traceability system in the future, according to System Development and Livestock Food Standardisation Bureau director Sopat Chawankun.

Sopat said Thailand will then have an official traceability system to guarantee the quality of the country's chicken products.