Bulgaria Plans GPS Tracking to Replace Livestock Ear Tags

Bulgaria’s Agriculture Ministry is considering the use of GPS trackers to identify livestock and improve animal monitoring.

Agriculture Minister Plamen Abrovski said Bulgaria, together with Greece, Cyprus and Romania, plans to ask the European Commission to review rules on livestock disease control and vaccination.

He said the ministry is also continuing daily checks to detect so-called “virtual” animals that exist only on records but are not physically present.

Abrovski said Bulgaria wants to establish an experimental region where livestock would be fitted with GPS trackers. He noted that such a system has not yet been used in the European Union and could eventually become an official method of animal identification.

The minister also said work is ongoing on the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy, including specific support for rose growers.