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PUTRAJAYA: The requirement to use Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) to export swiftlet nests from the country of origin was not set by Malaysian government, but imposed by China, said Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Deputy Minister Datuk Chua Tee Yong
He said as China was the importing country, all parties must respect the decision to use RFID, to enable the authorities to trace where the products came from.
“We respect the feedback of the industry players. Some which are against the RFID but we must respect the requirement of the China government,” he told reporters here yesterday when responding to swiftlet nest operators who are reluctant to abide by the requirement.
He added that though the RFID issue could be discussed with the Chinese authorities, Malaysia would still have to respect China’s final decision.
Based on the draft protocol from Malaysia, it was stipulated that the internal and external packaging of exported edible bird’s nest should be labelled with product name, weight, company name, address and registration number of processing establishment, product storage condition and date of manufacture.
“However, from the draft protocol that was sent from China to Malaysia, they have added an additional item, including the RFID requirement,” he said.
Recently, Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Seri Noh Omar said the draft protocol on conditions on bird’s nest entry into China had been approved by the Malaysian and Chinese governments, and waiting to be signed.
Asked on the date, Chua said there was no specific date to sign it and it would depend on China.
Meanwhile, Chua said at the moment China has not issued any import permits to bird’s nest operators in Malaysia.
“We have received applications from industry players, but so far there was no approval from China for import permits. Nobody is exporting anything there yet,” he said. — Bernama


Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/07/25/rfid-requirement-on-birds-nest-export-imposed-by-china/#ixzz21mYaaZBK