February 24, 2010, 11:44 AM — The Queensland government will roll out radio frequency identification devices (RFID) in a $61,000 trial to track the supply chain of kangaroo meat.
The two-month trial is expected to begin in southern Queensland in March with several kangaroo industry organisations taking part.
The RFID tags will be used to track kangaroos once they have been killed until arrival at processing factories.
In a statement, minister for primary industries, fisheries and rural and regional Queensland, Tim Mulherin, said the trial came on the back of overseas demand for improved traceability.
"This sort of technology is already used in Australia to identify casino gambling chips but this will be the first time it is used for kangaroo and wild game harvesting," Mulherin said.
"The identification tag is fixed to the animal and records specific information about each kangaroo, including time, date and GPS location of harvest.
"It also has the capability of collecting details such as the sex and species of kangaroo."
Safe Food Production Queensland is conducting a separate trial across the kangaroo meat supply chain, using a barcode technology tag such as that used in the red meat industry.
