Transparency for proposed swiftlet bill, please!

September 23, 2011

FMT LETTER: From SM Mohd Idris, via e-mail
In response to the Swiftlet Bill to be tabled next year to regulate the profitable bird’s nest industry, Sahabat Alam Malaysia urges the Veterinary Services Department (VSD) to disclose more details of the new Bill.
The proposed bill should be open to public debate and consultation. What is important is that the VSD should involve the farm owners, non-swiftlet farm owners who reside near the swiftlet farms, members of the Council comprising representatives from the Government, Maritime, customs and NGOs at the pre-Bill stage to listen to their feedback.
Once all parties involved have reached an understanding and all loopholes plugged, then only should the Bill be tabled in parliament. The drafting of the new law should be an open and transparent process before any guidelines for swiftlet breeding can be passed.
In this case it is crucial to know whether the proposed Bill will be effective in fixing the problem of illegal operators, especially those who set up swiftlet farms in shophouses. Then again many ignorant and errant breeders may not conform to good farming practices to ensure that birds are not subjected to cruelty or abuse and mishandling.
Has the VSD sufficient personnel to enforce the rules, and who will monitor the activities of bird nest collectors to ensure that harvesting is done without disturbance to the birds and their young, especially when many are operating illegally?
Owing to the many public complaints there is a strong case for the bird nest industry to be shifted out from urban areas and heritage sites for reasons best known. Heritage sites have become a housing boom for birds, through the conversion of the heritage buildings for the valued nests.
This has brought about irreparable damage as original doors, plasterwood and features are removed, and sprinklers set up to keep the house humid. This causes dampness and rot to the adjacent properties.
The increasing dense networks of a swiftlet house could create virtual disease flight paths for avian flu, threatening both local bird population and humans as well. Pools of water created for the humidity could provide prime breeding sites for mosquitoes and the spread of dengue and malaria.
health concerns are secondary as swiftlet house owners seem more concerned with the flightiness of the birds themselves. A recording of bird calls screaming at high volume with the noise level above the permissible level is another frequent complaint.
SAM strongly believes that this lucrative business is best suited to areas where the birds naturally feed, over agricultural or forest areas, or in combination with agriculture, in areas of low population.
Breeding activities in specifically zoned agricultural area would address the problem of noise and other nuisance problems caused to residents in urban areas. However care must be taken to ensure that the progressive shut down of section of farms can only take place after the breeding period.
Another issue of major concern is an urgent need for the inclusion of swiftlets into the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES) particularly when considering the bulk of edible swiftlet nests transported across international boundaries. Consumer nations will continue to import the nests irrespective of the source.
It is imperative that information on illegal trade within the region be encouraged by all means, especially to identify illegal trade routes and the movements of the individuals concerned. It is important to review the legislation for all range states and consumer countries so as to enable all countries in the region to understand and address the issue of illegal trade.
Lastly the authority for administering legislation controlling the harvest and export of edible-nest swiftlet materials should be vested in the wildlife conservation agency due to their considerable amount of knowledge and research pertaining to the management of swiftlets.
The writer is president of Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM)

Sarang Burung Walit Malaysia Selamat Untuk Eksport

VSD to conduct spot checks on bird's nest factories

Posted on 25 August 2011 - 05:26am
Last updated on 25 August 2011 - 09:27am

Kong See Hoh
newsdesk@thesundaily.com

PETALING JAYA (Aug 24, 2011): The Veterinary Services Department (VSD) will conduct spot checks on bird’s nest processing factories to ensure only top quality nest is produced for export.
Federation of the Edible Bird’s Nest Merchants Association deputy chairman Datuk Choot Seng Chai said the federation welcomes the move.
He said the move would show consumers in China that Malaysia does not produce low-quality bird’s nest.
“We don’t want the industry’s image to be tarnished by unscrupulous traders. We have never wanted to compromise the health of consumers in China (by poor quality bird’s nest),” he said, with reference to reports in China of fake, poor quality bird’s nest products or “blood” bird’s nest with high levels of nitrite in China, which were said to have come from Malaysia.
He told Oriental Daily News that the bird’s nest industry and the government need to work closely together to restore the confidence of the Chinese in bird’s nest from Malaysia.
He said local bird’s nest merchants are considering hiring independent foreign experts to carry out tests on bird’s nest produced here to give Malaysian products the seal of approval.
Aside from this, he said the government will make arrangements for Chinese government officials to get first-hand knowledge of how bird’s nest is harvested and cleaned.
“This shows that the Malaysian government is concerned over the incident (of Malaysian bird’s nest taken off the shelves in China for having nitrite exceeding the permissible levels).
“We will also show (the Chinese) that we are not a factory churning out fake bird’s nest.”
Choot, who attended a dialogue between the department and players in the bird’s nest industry on Monday, said the government must step in to resolve the controversy surrounding fake bird’s nest.
He said government-to-government negotiations are needed now, following which bird’s nest merchants will have to do the needful to restore Chinese consumers’ confidence in our bird’s nest.
“Perhaps, the bird’s nest merchants may have to get world No. 1 badminton player Datuk Lee Chong Wei’s as brand ambassador for their products to boost the image of Malaysian bird’s nest,” he said in jest.
On department director-general Datuk Dr Abdul Aziz Jamaluddin’s remark at the dialogue that the majority of the low-quality bird’s nest found in China are from Indonesia, Choot explained that because Indonesian and Thai bird’s nest merchants cannot export their products direct to China, many of their products are repackaged in Malaysia before they are shipped to Hongkong, and eventually China.
“We don’t know if they (Indonesian merchants) have done anything to the bird’s nest, but unfortunately, Malaysian merchants are taking the rap,” he said.

Vietnam's edible bird's nest industry shows swift growth as demand soars

HOCHIMIN CITY--With its favorable weather, Vietnam has good potential for farming swifts for edible nests, but local authorities should make zoning plans to ensure the sustainable development of the new industry, a conference heard in Ho Chi Min City last week.

The swift-breeding industry has developed quickly in many places like Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Australia and Hong Kong, producing more than 100 tons of nest annually worth more than US$200 million.
Vietnam has many places suitable for it, and it is likely to become a profitable industry in the country just like other places in the region. Besides developing indoor breeding, local authorities should also make efforts to protect the birds in their natural habitats, mostly on islands, she said.
Global demand for bird's nest is expected to increase by more than 10 percent a year in the next two decades, Le Vo Dinh Tuong of the Ho Chi Min City Institute of Chemical Technology said.
With supply far below demand, prices have spurted. From a mere US$30 per kilo in 1970 the cost increased to US$1,500 per kilo last year.
With proper planning, bird's nest could become one of the country's major export items in the near future, he said.
According to recent statistics, Vietnam produces around 10 tons of birds' nests a year.

Bird's nest tracking system to prevent fakes in M'sian market

The Star/Asia News Network
Sunday, Aug 14, 2011

LABIS, Johor - 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.
"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.