“Going
forward, consumers will be more aware of what they consume, where the product
originated and how it is treated. We will be able to trace the animal from the
point of slaughter right back to the farm”
Veterinary officer Dr
Icolyn Ricketts-Gayle commenting on the launch of the NAITS Initiative by
Minister of Agriculture, Roger Clarke during the 62nd Staging of the
Annual Denbigh Agricultural Show 2014
The
62nd Staging of the Annual Denbigh Agricultural Show 2014 was the
same as it’s always been. Lots of Cows, the same Fruit displays and the same
rides to the point that I wonder if they were actually changed or if it’s the
EXACT same Animals, Fruits and other
products on display!
But
this year was different in one respect; it saw the launch of the NAITS
(National Animal Identification and Traceability System) Initiative as
explained in “Cattle now
being tagged in nat'l animal ID System”, published Wednesday August 6, 2014
by Shanique Samuels, Gleaner Writer, The
Jamaica Gleaner.
The
first set of Cattle were tagged in a ceremony at the Annual Denbigh
Agricultural Show 2014 by Minister of Agriculture, Roger Clarke, who’s still
fat after being ill and having his duties filled by Minister of Labour and
Social Security Derrick Kellier.
The
NAITS Initiative was tabled in Parliament when Minister of Agriculture, Roger
Clarke made his Budget Presentation in the House of Representatives as reported
on Thursday May 1st 2014! The System cost some JA$20 million and
Minister of Agriculture, Roger Clarke, who was on Sick Leave, expects that the
NAITS Initiative to get the full support of some 620 Farmers and Abattoirs i.e.
Butchers.
The
NAITS Initiative aims to tag all Cattle and eventually Pigs with a Biometric ID
that uniquely identifies each animal that a Farmer owns as explained in my blog article entitled
“Min.
of Agriculture proposes DNA Database for Cattle and Livestock – How RFID
Biometric Markers can curtail Praedial Larceny and Develope Agro Processing for
Export”.
How the NAITS
Initiative will work to reduce Praedial Larceny – Pigs will be Next
More
importantly, that Biometric ID Tag will be machine readable and store the DNA
for that particular animal and the Registration Information for the owners for
that particular animal, effectively a license.
This
suggests that all Farmers will have to be initially registered under the NAITS
Initiative and their information paired with the Animals DNA and placed into a
massive Database created by App developed by Programmers from the Code for the
Caribbean Fellowship Programme.
These
Biometrics Tags, which may be NFC (Near Field Communication) or RFID (Radio
Frequency Identification) readable, are to be placed at the rear of the animal
or other parts where it’s easily accessible by the Special Praedial Larceny
Police Task Force.
The
Special Praedial Larceny Police Task Force would be then equipped and trained with
hand held scanners, most likely Google Android smartphones with a custom App
that uses a NFC or RFID Reader attachment to scan and detect the Biometric Tag
and establish ownership for the animal. This Special Praedial Larceny Police
Task Force would use their access via specially enable smartphones with
NFC/RFID Scanners to identify stolen carcasses during stop and searches.
Most
interestingly, there will also be an associated Passport issued to each Farmer
registered under the NAITS so as to establish ownership of their animals in
case the Special Praedial Larceny Police Task Force intercepts the Carcasses of
these animals during Health Inspector Raids and Stop and Search.
Thus,
if the Special Praedial Larceny Police Task Force scans an animal suspected to
be stolen and the Biometric ID identifies the animal as belonging to someone else,
they can take action and arrest the individual in possession of the animal or its
carcass. Otherwise, they’d have to prove to the Special Praedial Larceny Police
Task Force that they have the Passport for the animal.
I
assume this Passport would probably look a lot like a regular Jamaican Passport
except it would have copies of each NFC/RFID Readable Biometric ID pasted
inside along with the requisite security Features to prevent duplication. Possibly
too, it may be in the form of an ID that the Farmer would wear around his neck
on a lanyard.
The
members of the JCF (Jamaica Constabulary Force) aka the Jamaican Police would
thus easily verify ownership by scanning the animal’s rump area to read the
Biometric ID and then scanning the Passport or the ID to confirm a match to the
Farmer to establish ownership in the absolute.
This is necessary as after proving that the
animal is NOT the property of the persons who’s accused of stealing it by
virtue of them NOT having the Passport for the animal, the Special Praedial
Larceny Police Task Force has to prove its ownership to the rightful owner via
comparison to their Passport as well as their written statement.
NAITS Initiative and
Clarendon – May Pen Police may get smartphone scanners
So
with this System in place, what could go wrong? Assuming there are no Legal and
Logistical problems, sophisticated thieves may know the location of the
Biometric ID and decided to dig it out of the animal. Worse, if it’s grafted
under the animals’ skin, a skilled thief can remove the cow’s skin and discover
the Biometric ID.
Handheld
DNA Scanners don’t exist as yet, albeit the Israeli based Consumer Physics
pocket sized IR Spectrometer called the SCiO
Portable IR Spectrometer as described in my blog article
entitled “Consumer
Physics US$199 SCiO Portable IR Spectrometer – Star Trek Tricorder that can
scan the Molecular World” can possibly be reprogrammed to analyze blood or
animal fluids and identify the animals in real time.
That
would mean not really sequencing the animal’s DNA, but rather identifying the
animal using certain specific Genetic markers that should be unique to each
animal. This may not be a reliable alternative to Biometric ID and would
require the Special Praedial Larceny Police Task Force to know medical
procedure as it relates to gathering body fluids of animals.
Hopefully
it won’t come to that, as the Biometric ID Tag System with its associated NAITS
Database that accessible via a smartphone pre-loaded with the App for that Database
is simple enough.
JCF
members will, however, have to be trained to use their smartphones that will be
issued to them in the same manner as they’re trained in using their weapons.
This as during legal proceeding before a RM (Resident Magistrate), the
smartphones will be admitted into evidence but only after it’s been proven via
security procedure that the evidence on the smartphone hasn’t been altered or tampered
with. In essence, just like an issued handgun.
NAITS Initiative and
Clarendon – Drones will be model Aeroplanes and octacopters
In
the meantime, as this was started in Clarendon, I’m expecting that the May Pen
Police will be the first to have members trained to become Special Praedial
Larceny Police Task Force members. They’d in turn be issued with the special
smartphones with the App developed by Programmers from the Code for the
Caribbean Fellowship Programme. These smartphones will most likely be on the
JCF’s CUG (Closed User Group) and will also have a full one month Data Plan
from the relevant Telecoms Provider.
Milk
River Police would most likely receive some training with the use of these
smartphones and have a specialist trained to use the smartphone that would also
be issued to them as part of the NAITS Initiative.
However,
there still the problem of the Drones or UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle). There’s
no mention of progress on implementing that during the launch of the NAITS
Initiative by Minister of Agriculture, Roger Clarke. However, whoever the
contractor to supply the Drones would be, they’d have to be stored at the Milk
River Police Station or other Rural Police stations in Clarendon.
This
as typically most Drones have limited range, especially if the Ministry of
Agriculture with the help of the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and
Mining has plans to acquire Quadracopters (4-rotors), Hexacopters (6-rotors) or
Octacopter (8-rotors) Drones, which would be more suitable for doing short
range aerial reconnaissance. Such Drones are usually battery powered and are a
one-man launch operation.
Thus,
they’d have a short range of flight usually lasting 45 minute similar to the AirDog
Drone and the Hexo+ Drone as detailed in my blog article entitled
“AirDog
Personal Drone – Action Selfie-Drone with an attachment for a GoPro Camera”
and “Hexo+
Semi-Autonomous Drone Controlled by Apple iOS and Android – Despite no AirLeash
Six Propellers better than Four as it won’t run away”.
They
would be best housed at the Police Station that located within the Farming
District that’s being plagued by Praedial Larceny. However, for long range
reconnaissance, Drones would have to be basically model aeroplanes that can fly
using aerosolized alcohol or even gasoline and carry sophisticated Cameras with
a Communications package both for Remote Control and Navigation.
Frequencies
would have to be assigned to allow for effective Remote Control and Navigation
of the Aircraft, even though their introduction could also be used to run Local
and Central Government more efficiently as detailed in my blog article
entitled “Fast
Food Robot taking over by 2017 - How Drones like Amazon and PrimeAir and not
Humanoid Robots will be the first Robots by 2015”.
As
we currently have no legislation on Drones, like the FAA (Federal Aviation
Authority) our JCAA (Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority) would have to embark on
research into best practices as it relates to Drones usage within our airspace
as noted in my blog
article entitled “FAA
ok’s Drones for Hobbyist – Study to determine Commercial Drone Risk as Amazon,
UPS and FedEx Drones get the Kibosh until 2015”.
So
albeit Minister of Agriculture, Roger Clarke had mentioned Drones during his
Budget Presentation in the House of Representatives as reported on Thursday May
1st 2014, it won’t be until 2017 before Drones will have the
necessary relevant Regulations and Legislative Framework.
Not
to mention technical specifications for their design for the JCF to operate and
fly them in Jamaica!
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