The transporting ship fulfills conditions established by the World Animal Health Organization, OIE, for transport and handling of bovine by sea

Bogotá, February 25^th 2010. In an unprecedented fact in Colombian overseas trade records, 28 cattle farms from Córdoba, Sucre and Cesar will be exported by sea toward the Lebanon Republic 3000 not castrated male animals of Cebú race, from 24 to 36 months old.

 

The ship with Lebanese flag that will transport the animals will ship this Saturday February 27^th from Barranquilla port and it is expected to arrive in Beirut port on approximately 22 days.

 

The commercial agreement was accomplished thanks to the sanitary protocol established between the Colombian Agriculture and Livestock Institute, ICA, and the Veterinarian Service from this middle eastern country, which signature was done last January after four months of technical processes, in which the Institute presented documentation related to sanitary measures and epidemiological surveillance that evidenced sanitary status of Colombian bovine production.

 

This was confirmed by ICA general manager ICA, Luis Fernando Caicedo Lince, who pointed out that: “Both in this export and the rest we are consolidating, have become reality thanks to drawn policies by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Andrés Fernández Acosta, and that ICA we have focused our job in sanitary and phytosanitary protocols signature that represent a real access of our agriculture and livestock products in new markets”.

 

The high ranked officer added that “the signature of this protocol confirms that Colombian livestock health is a key tool in opening new trade scenarios, besides directly benefiting cattle farmers who have not had the opportunity to trade their animals in never before explored markets”.

 

ICA manager stressed cattle farmers’ fulfillment of sanitary regulations and the rest of established policies to maintain health of their animals in vaccination matter against diseases, implementation of Cattle farming good practices, adequate mobilization and zero smuggling of specimens.

 

The plots where animals come from to be exported are registered and controlled by ICA and have not shown clinical cases of foot and mouth disease, brucellosis nor tuberculosis in the last twelve months and neither rabies cases six months before, among other requirements.  

 

The Institute has verified fulfillment of established sanitary measures in the protocol and their application in export process of these animals to the Lebanon Republic, for which seven veterinarians and technicians from ICA permanently developed inspection tasks in each one of the animals in the port and also a group of veterinarians did so in the plot of origin. 

 

“The animals have been transported from the farms in approximately 230 trucks, which when entering the port are inspected by ICA employees for document and clinic verification of each one of the specimens to guarantee fulfilling demanded requirements by Lebanon”, explained Caicedo Lince.

 

The transporting ship fulfills conditions established by the World Animal Health Organization, OIE, for transport and handling of bovine by sea; besides, it has the capacity to comfortably host 3.000 animals in six stories, each one of which have in average of 12 to 20 yards. On the first and second story 380 will travel and the third, fourth, fifth and sixth will hold between 550 and 600 animals. 

 

“Stories have ventilation, aqueduct for water supply, feeding system control, drainage system for disposing of solid and liquid waste that will allow animals to stay completely clean, avoiding a niche for insect multiplication”, added the Institute manager.  

 

The manager pointed out that “although it is expected that on March there will be a new shipment of 5.000 heads of cattle to Lebanon Republic, business done from here on will be to the discretion of agreements done by Colombian entrepreneurs with that nation importers”.