President Yoweri Museveni-led government wants all farmers in the country to register their cows for “traceability of their products and to enable them benefit from the international market.”

According to Uganda’s Agriculture Minister Vincent Ssempijja, the new requirement is necessitated by demands from the international market that all countries producing foodstuff and crops for the European market produce its traceability.

‘‘They want to know where the products are coming from; they have been impounding and banning all consignments from Uganda if they find one box with issues,” he said, as quoted by the Daily Monitor.

He noted that importers of products from Uganda are demanding meat from cows aged between 15 and 24 months hence the government will require a birth certificate for cows to ascertain for the age.

“Farmers will be registered and their products given barcodes so that if they find a problem with one box, they look for the source and sort out the problem. We cannot enter lucrative market unless farmers register.’’

He added: ‘‘For cattle farmers, it is going to be worse. You will be registered as a farmer, the cow will be registered, numbered and will have a birth certificate because the importers of our products demand meat for cows aged between 15 to 24 months. So we are going to sell depending on their age.”

The announcement was made on Tuesday at the official opening of the National Agricultural Show at the Source of the Nile grounds in Jinja.

Mr. Ssempijja said an audit team from the European Union is expected in Uganda in September this year to ensure that all farmers producing commodities destined for Europe are registered