Uruguay plans innovations in cattle tracking process

The official said Uruguay was still the only country with full traceability of livestock, although technological upgrades were needed.

Fratti and the presidents of the National Agency for Research and Innovation (ANII), Alvaro Brunini, the National MEAT Institute (INAC), Gaston Scajola and the National Institute for Agricultural Research (INIA), Miguel Sierra, presented this Monday, the 5th, at the MGAP headquarters, an international call for the development of technological solutions to update the livestock traceability system.

The initiative aims to finance innovative projects that offer technological solutions for the identification, monitoring and management of cattle. This will be done using geo-referencing devices to detect movements and possible caravan movements that interfere with continuous and accurate cattle surveillance.

The Secretary of State stressed that the traceability of cattle   in Uruguay is crucial for the country's positioning in the international meat market. Since 2006, 18 years after the creation of this registration system, Uruguay is the only country in which 100% of the cattle population (12,000,000 heads) are identified and traced. "This is a successful public policy that must be strengthened," he said.

The bidding rules stipulate that interested parties must be residents of Uruguay and provide funding for up to two projects with a budget of 5,000,000 pesos each. These projects must be implemented within one year and validated by at least one INIA experimental station.