This is a catch-22 situation. Ask the perhilitan guy if breeding of swiftlets could be done ?

At the moment it can't as protected species eggs and babies cannot be kept or transported. Remove this restriction then swiftlets quickly become a domesticated specie.

This post has been edited by chiongguo: Dec 19 2009, 02:37 PM

It all boiled down to "Quan" Authority has 2 mouths....either ways also possible but only to the authorities. Total Protected,Semi protected or Domesticated all depend on their own interpretation of the Acts. Now, the Eco and the Authorities are joining up to set up hugh parks to mass produce swiftlets for EBNs by rearing and hand feeding the swiftlets. If they are successful, GOD has mercy on the Free swiftlets..........Later, we may find designer's nests up to buyers' specifications.....factory made to order. Color, size and even number of feathers also can.

That's will be the day.................the day, I discourage all from taking birdnests as EBN will be contaminated and possible harmful to health and no more natural health food.

---

Added on December 20, 2009, 4:40 pmIs the poster still there at the international Departure gate????? Cos, one Dato told me that they have successfully convinced the authorities to allow free 1 KG of EBN and that above 1 KG and even one container is only Rm100. and that the only department needed is the Perhilitan. Are the above true or false?????


This post has been edited by West Wing: Dec 20 2009, 04:40 PM

100,000 bhs by 2020 not 5 yrs time. Sorry me bad.

Taken from The Star

Published: Friday December 11, 2009 MYT 12:35:00 PM
Updated: Friday December 11, 2009 MYT 12:39:28 PM
Swiftlet industry in Sarawak ruffles feathers


KUALA LUMPUR: The edible swiftlet nest industry in this country is a highly lucrative one with the annual turnover reaching RM1bil.

However, a critical issue pertaining to the licensing of the swiftlet farms within buildings located in towns may retard the industry if no solution is found.

Local authorities are against the idea of having swiftlet farms in towns as they can cause nuisance to the public and pollute the environment.

But places like Sarawak, though the swiftlet farms are forbidden in towns, still has to find a solution for more than 1,500 illegal swiftlet farms. Any attempt to eradicate the illegal swiftlet farms will bring negative impact to the industry.

So what is the best option in solving this problem to ensure that the effort to boost the industry is not derailed? The licensing issue cropped up in October last year after the authorities conducted an exercise to clear up illegal swiftlet farms in Mukah town.

The move by the authorities has put many swiftlet farm owners in a quandary and raised many questions on the way the exercise was carried out.

During the exercise the swiftlet chicks protected under the Wildlife Act 1972 were left to die in the nests that were confiscated by the authorities. Those annoyed with the move even posted the video on the chicks' fate on the popular video sharing website Youtube.

The action taken by the local authorities has certainly ruffled some feathers, especially the swiftlet farmers.

Thus the Swiftlet Merchant Association in Mukah requested Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud to help find a solution. The same request from the counterparts in Sibu and Sarikei followed suit.

The bottom line is that the farm owners wanted to continue operations in the existing premises with most of them being shoptlots.

But the local authorities are steadfast with their stand. Despite the edible swiftlet nest's huge commercial potential, Sarawak's 1998 Wildlife Protection Ordinance prohibits the species from being bred in other than its natural habitat like the caves and this has made things difficult for the industry.

The director of Sarawak's Forestry Department who is also the Wildlife Controller for Sarawak Datuk Len Talif Salleh stressed that the state government wanted the industry to be developed in a controlled manner in accordance with the existing laws.

Len Talif pointed out about 100 licenses have been approved from the 600 to 700 applications received since May.

"Most of the licenses approved are for the "oldplayers" who conform to the prerequisites.

"The rest were rejected as their proposed swiftlet farms are in towns," he said adding that enforcement measures would be taken against illegal swiftlet farms.

The licenses were issued for swiftlet farming in Mukah, Bintulu, Kuching, Kota Samarahan and Sarikei with all of the swiftlet farms in agricultural areas. Nonetheless, the industry views the issuance of the licence as a positive development when in May, only two of the more than 1,500 swiftlet farms in the state were licensed.

Swiftlet farming also needs approval from agencies like the Land and Survey Department, the Natural Resources and Environment Board (NREB) and the local authorities.

And the good news is that the state government is to build three swiftlet ecoparks in Mukah, Sarikei and Bintulu respectively with lots to be sold and rented out to those who are keen.

However, many are sceptical that the bird will nest at the ecopark and feared the bureaucratic hassle.

Thus this scepticism has prompted a big number of swiftlet farm owners to seek exemptions and continue with their activities in the existing premises in towns.

The swiftlet nest entrepreneurs also hope to adopt guidelines like the Good Animal Husbandry Practices (GAHP) for the swiftlets, so that they will be allowed to ply their trade within towns as done by their counterparts in Peninsula.

"We will follow this guideline," noted the protem chairman for the Sarikei Swiftlet Nest Merchants' Association Wong Hua Ting, which is in opposition to the state government's stand that the swiflet farming should only be carried out at agricultural areas or the proposed ecopark.

Swiftlet farming in populated areas could create pandemonium among the public especially when there are diseases involving this species of bird.

The Veterinary Services Department (VSD) has conducted more than 5,000 tests on the birds and have confirmed that the swiflet are free from bird flu and Newcastle disease.

The department is also preparing the guidelines on swiftlet farming and the draft proposals will be forwarded to the Steering Committee for the National Swiftlet Industry on Dec 14. The guideline known as "1GP" makes it compulsory for swiftlet breeding premises to be registered with department.

However, before the guideline could be adopted by the local authorities, it would be brought to the attention of the National Council on Local Government chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, which is expected to meet March next year.

"The guideline will set the standard for all local governments. It will help traders and swiftlet farm owners to venture into this field in a more organised manner," said the chairman of the Federation of Swiftlet Nest Merchants' Associations Datuk Beh Heng Seong.

Regarding the guideline, Len Talif noted that the Sarawak state government is ready to adopt it as long as it does not contradict with the state ordinance which would be continuously enforced.

He also gave assurance that in future the nests would not be confiscated and instead a compound will be issued and only the equipment used will be confiscated.

This development is seen as a positive indication pertaining to enforcement but this does not mean it has opened the doors for all to start swiftlet farms without authorisation.

The government wants to see 100,000 swiftlet farms producing 500 tonnes of the bird's nest annually worth RM5 billion by 2020.The swiftlet nest from this country is of high quality and is highly sought after in China and Arab with the prices fetching up to RM10,000 per kilogram. Thus the solution for this licensing issue is highly pertinent and all parties involved should work hand in hand to ensure that the edible bird nest industry remains vibrant and the nation stands at par with Indonesia and Thailand, the leading producers. - Bernama

One Kg seems fair for the tourist. I hope the government will enforce this rule with immediate effect. Perhilitan should be spending more time catching the real wild animals poachers. It wa spublished in the papers that many pangolins were saved.

Leave us the Swiftlet Santuary Providers alone, please.

Bobby C, thks

i think the govt should leave the tourist alone. Tourist that will able to get 1KG will usually get it in a license shop . 1KG is not much. i remember my trip in korea and we were carrying a full luggage of korean ginseng . some were bottled up for display. The most important thing is to be able to get it freely. Tourist will be brought to this places for studying and purhcasing this merchandise for souvenir.

Maybe the rules were impose afraid of mass export using luggages and boxes but that shouldnt be the business of the govt . Govt should be looking at imposing sales tax on the license shops and the bird houses owners with license. This way , tourist will not be affected as their cash sales probably being absorbed by the licensing shops. Therefore , its very important that tourist keep their receipt.

Duty Free shops will have better business and many will gain. So its better that all Bird houses in malaysia get a license from the govt and close the illegal one for better control and future of the bird house business that is mostly export.


I think this statement in the Star a bit exagerative don't u think so? RM 10,000 per kg??? i thought the market rate is now 1KG -RM 3000 . moreover, the one in Indon cave fetch higher price tag than the swiftlet farm house which does not contain alot of supplements . The one i saw in Eu Yan Sang one which claimed to be originated from the old cave in indonesia is better than the Nia Cave of sarawak. When i look at the premium pack, it does look better quality than the local cave of sarawak.

just informing; tomorrow 1st encounter with my local council. wish me luck. preparing a few things 2night.

Sure, wish you the very best.

how is the meeting dusun?
any progress? who did u meet?

---

Added on December 23, 2009, 10:54 amAny Bird House for sales with good productivity of Bird Nest please contact me by pm .
If you are migrating or wish to sell it at very reasonable pricing than only contact me.

This post has been edited by hackwire: Dec 23 2009, 10:54 AM

Garis panduan ternak burung walit ke Kabinet awal 2010 - http://gemsb.blogspot.com

- Gambar tak boleh nak Upload- (Uploads are disabled until further notice due to a storage problem.)-

Untuk lihat keratan akhbar sila layari http://gemsb.blogspot.com

thanks globalexm, but using the link below, its easier and faster since i find GEM's site loads kinda slowly.

http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=464007

Hopefully all goes well with this new so called 1GP.


I would rather we comment on this clipping; (same as Bobby C's post)

http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=461591


Oh, by the way... 1st round with PBT... me 1, PBT 0. Huahauahuahuahuahuahahahhahaha!!! The story is, while i was out of state... got a call from the PBT's Legal Unit," Sir, our enforcement officers have visited your BH, would you please come by the office to clarify a few things". Ok, fine, traveled 6 hours home... made some copies of documents and slept. Early the next morning was in front of the PBT's office. FORTUNATELY the lady in charge was very polite. She requested a copy of the land title, to check whether or not it came under their jurisdiction... and was told to apply for business operating license as well. Since i had already prepared the necessary documents for applying a BH permit (since 2008), it was convenient when she asked me to apply for the permit, just in case it did come under their jurisdiction. Asked her to sign an 'akuan penerimaan dokumen' whereby stating it is only for this particular use and not to be used without written consent yadadadada...

Anyways... it turned out the land was not under them (rupanya, it is possible that some agri land may come under PBT's). Expected so. The deposit for operating a BH is around RM1000.00, the permit/license about RM300++ more or less annually (saved la some money). Surprisingly.... the PBT was very-very cooperative... they even LISTENED to what i had to say about the new GAHP coming out. They even showed me their circular/PBT's own guideline from Kementerian Perumahan & Kerajaan Tempatan (which i commented will be outdated once the new 1GP came out, and will be updated).

On request they showed me the logbook of people who applied and who already got permits for BH's. Around 50++. Anyways, wasn't snooping or anything, just had some anonymous details and data for my reference. These are my future brother in arms!!!

Anyways, i don't think it will end there. All the best, good luck to all of us that may face problems with nosy PBT's.

---

Added on December 24, 2009, 8:30 amI'll try clarify this later... but i believe that breeding might be allowed. A few examples of animals declassified from totally protected to protected are the landak raya & kijang. So there is a possibility its the same for swiftlets? legally it might be ok if we cite these examples but morally/personally i think its wrong. Anyways... how did that Khairil Sani Wong chap get to to it, and even publicized the 'revolutionary' method of swiftlet ranching? As i said in an earlier post, if the restrictions as chiongguo said were removed and the term domesticated is used (directly removing all the red tape except for PBT)... i'll be happy for the industry, but it'll be sad watching these free flying birds become... not so free flying.

If looked carefully... say IF perhilitan went bonkers and imposed a license/permit for breeding swiftlets for guys like Khairil Sani/Aeroswift... then it might be imposed to ALL bird house owners as well... SINCE BH OWNERS TOO ARE BREEDING & PROPAGATING SWIFTLETS by definition of word even though the method (naturally allowing propagation) differs.

This post has been edited by dunsuntutmybuntut: Dec 24 2009, 08:44 AM

is every bird nest price the same?
What is the current market price of BH now for 1kilo.

Breeding is the process of getting the male and female to mate.
-- This may be a bit difficult

Propagating is the process of getting the eggs to hatch into baby swiftlet.
-- This is what is being done

Rearing is the process of keeping the birds, feeding it and allow it to mature to produce the birdnests.
-- the babies should be kept alive until it can be independent.

Survival rate of propagating and rearing of young is 50% according to an indonesian book.

My view is that propagating and rearing of the young should be allowed. But swiftlets should be free to fly out to source for its own food. In indonesia they rear the swiftlets by feeding it within the building.

No wonder we swiftlet farmers are facing so much trouble. Though there are black sheep amongst us, the perhilitan people seems to be more interested in something else as far as protecting wild life is concerned.

http://masterwordsmith-unplugged.blogspot....l-wildlife.html

Quote:

"......Many Malaysians DO NOT KNOW that some Malaysians are making waves in the shadowy world of illegal wildlife trade. The shocking thing is that foreigners know more than us about this. By next week, all and sundry will know about it when the January 2010 issue of National Geographic hits the stands on December 29th, 2009!

That issue will have The Kingpin - An exposé of the world's most notorious wildlife dealer, his special government friend, and his ambitious new plan written by Brian Christy. An advanced web edition was released on December 15th 2009 at National Geographic official web site. It is a very long story that took THREE YEARS of research. Believe me - the intricate details of illegal wildlife trade and its ties with ONE MALAYSIAN man and his cronies will blow your brains to smithereens. It is an awfully long article but one that YOU HAVE TO READ!!! I cannot post on it because of copyright and embargo reasons."
****************************************

See for yourself. Making it illegal seams to be the easy way to make money for the law enforcers at the expense of the wild animals and swiftlet sanctuary providers like us.

It is high time they stop preventing tourist from bringing out ebn less than 1 kg.

This post has been edited by coolandy: Dec 28 2009, 10:36 PM

Dear Sirs/Madams,

Good Day!
Firstly, I am very sorry should my following question sounds very "noobish" as I am a very new in this field. I hope I can learn much from fellow experienced forummers here. Please pardon my shallow knowledge in this.

Currently, in-view that my some of my close family members are already venturing into this field, I am hoping to try to earn a little extra income by doing some trading of the house bird nests. However, I am currently facing some setbacks mainly in search of genuine buyers. I had tried contacting some buyers however, none responded positively. Some due to very low pricing and mostly doesn't seem to be sincere.

May I know what would be the best or the most efficient way to go about in finding a genuine buyer? I can get a relatively consistent supply of few Kgs per month.

I sincerely hope someone can give a little guidance to me.

Many thanks in advance and again very sorry should my question sounded very noobish.

http://www.thelizardkingbook.com/blog/?tag=anson-wong

Stupid wildlife dept more interested in swiftlet ranching than protecting the extinct of other animals.

Not stupid but very smart cos where there is money, there where I stay.............like in the Hokkian Song

Now, even the town planning department guys are going for a kill. Before if you do small renovation at your shop or office, no body cares but now, the enforcers are very fast to know and they are on your back so fast that you don't have the time to sneeze. They come ready with camera and taking pictures and notes..........

They will issue you a summon to stop work and to apply for renovation and your application now must be follow by a Architect drawing ( formally just a decent drawing will do) whcih will cost you about Rm4000 and they even tell you which architect to go to if you want a quick approval....if you get the breeze. The summon will 10 times the application....by calculation provided.


So, the present situation with our BHs is bad but will get worst when we apply for lesen as most of the departments will be cashing in and going for the kill and we are the prey.........

So, if any of readers here are doing renovation at their office or shop, do so discreetly; closed door and only move the materials in on off day to avoid the summons problem.

This post has been edited by West Wing: Dec 28 2009, 05:44 PM

aiyo, now i wonder if i should invest in this industry.
this country really rob our goal and dream.

Yes chiongguo, those maybe the definitions, but as West Wing said, these people are smart, will lump it all together under one general Malay term and milk the rewards since they have the authority and power to do so. They will still use Bahasa terms... and we all know bahasa words can bring around 3-5 meanings in English... and i doubt they will use the definitions you gave. As i said previously, even the APHL1972 itself has many loopholes and unclear definitions of terms that are used and to me, abused by agencies.

Todays paper;

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=...9002&sec=nation

Bro Dunsun,
You missed 1 seemingly insignificant & unrelated report in the same paper that signals (to my mind anyway.. long conditioned by predictable reactions from our officials) the beginning of an enforcement campaign prompted by the soon to be released National Geographic story.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=...5957&sec=nation
Maybe the NG story ought to be banned (paint over the offending story black at least ) ... because it definitely offends gentle Malaysians' sensitivities.
Just that I am not certain whcih 1 of the 2 ways (or both) I will be offended ie
1)I know I live within a cess pool of corruption & I feel offended that a foreign publication need to remind me and the whole world. Feels like having salt rubbed into my wounds...... OR
2)We M'sians definitely do not have corrupted officials as depicted in the report. It is just Western jealousy that we still hold a good portion of god given natural diversities ($). I am offended that Western publications impose their misguided beliefs & opinion on us. We have out own way & we are proud of the way. See how we handled the 1997 Asian currency crisis!!! We have proven to the world the M'sian way works and that includes parachuting a Proton onto the North pole..(we forgot why we did that, though it was sponsored with tax money).
($) Westener's claims that we rape mother nature by the thousands of hectares while they fail to recognise & be grateful that we provide westerners' backsides with wooden toilet seats & oil to fry their burger & fries !! We actually 'green' the earth with rows of neat & uniformly green oil palm trees....after. That's nature improved!.

AND while I am on a roll ... allow me (pretend YB) the opportunity to dispute Malaysian's baseless claims that the BN industry can provide the same & more income (& distributed for that matter) to the country without the rape. To let you (poor, unelected, ungrateful, misguided, non-crony citizenry) in on a little secret.. without all the failures in our systems, there is nothing to improve and fix! Making failed systems work is known as progress.. you wouldn't want to stand in the way of progress, would you? When all the rape results in our water sources disappearing, we DEVELOP a unique system to pump water from some UNDEVELOPED areas, we spend your money to fix things gone wrong after the DEVELOPMENT. That generates GROWTH! Otherwsie. where got job to get money to build BHs?
3)How I know? Because you elected me to speak on your behalf & to be honest... I know better. Incase of confusion & a need for clarification , go back to pt 3. There is a dire need for us patriotic citizens to make the jump to a higher income economy (though I have no idea what it means so just trust me). What I assure you is, you will definitely need more money to cover your basic needs in the near future so it may be common sense. While the debate is on deregulating sugar & petroleum fuel, we are are also thinking of charging for the air you breathe after we identify a party to privatise this to. Since we ordy signed the copenhagen thingy & polluting industries will be crying foul, the air tax may be used to offset the carbion credit that our pampered industry cannot afford to pay for.

Getting back to point
Putting all known credits from 1Paper in 1Spot from 1Year (see below *), to provide a proper setting for Act1 of the play titled..
A)"Damned if I do, Damned if I don't" .... (subtitled "Saya enfore u cakap saya terlalu, saya tak enforce u cakap banyak")
In a world tour, some cities where thew play is expected to play to full house ..(PutraJaya for example) it is alternatively titled..
B)"The best form of defence is attack" OR
C)"If you can't convince.... confuse" OR
D)ALL of the above
(from above*... the credits)
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=...2208&sec=nation
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=...6&sec=starprobe
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=...0003&sec=nation
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=...9622&sec=nation
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=...8&sec=starprobe
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=...9&sec=starprobe
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=...56685&sec=focus
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=...5327&sec=nation
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=...0428&sec=nation

To ensure I go back to being miserable, I share with you....my misery... thus
http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file...068&sec=central


Ooooooh I am feeling better already
So, off to bed.