Tracking Malaysian Cattle

Malaysia is the first Asian country to use the Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) to keep track of livestock. Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed said Malaysia would implement the identification system in its first phase. "This is the first step with an allocation of RM500 million from the Veterinary Department and we will fix the RFID on 80,000 heads of cattle nationwide. "It will be expanded to other livestock like goats if successful," he told reporters after launching the RFID system here today. He said the system incorporated an identification code in an ear tag fixed to the animal that had information related to the animal. Mustapa said a microchip was attached to an anntena and the microchip had data like address, location, sex, name of breeder, origin of the livestock and date of movement.