Bird’s nest tracking system to prevent fakes in the market

LABIS: The Government has come up with a swiftlet nest tracking system to prevent fake, adulterated or substandard bird’s nest products from being distributed in the market.Deputy Agriculture Minister Chua Tee Yong said the system could help prevent the local bird’s nest industry from being tainted by lower quality products.

“This system is still in the trial stage but we believe that once it is fully applied, it will help consumers to differentiate between fake and genuine bird’s nest easily,” he said, adding that currently, only chemical tests could determine the authenticity of the product.

Chua said this during the commercial launch of the tracking system, which was developed by the Veterinary Services Department, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission together with the Customs Department and the China Inspection and Quarantine unit here yesterday. Chua explained that recently, there have been concerns, especially from China, pertaining to substandard bird’s nest products from Malaysia.

Clamping down on fakes: Chua (left) posing with the tracking device. With him are (L-R) Department of Veterinary Livestock Commodity Development director Dr Fadzilah Aini, Yong Peng assemblyman Lim Kee Moi and project chairman Yow Lock Sen.

“Most of the time, these products had been adulterated, were fake or sold by some other country and labelled as Malaysian products,” he said, adding that this was the main reason for the introduction of the tracking system.

“The system basically includes a radio frequency identification device which allows users to track the product to the original source of production,” he said. He added that the Government had no immediate plans to make the system compulsory for bird’s nest farmers but many were already showing interest.