Camel owners with officially registered camel chips can now transfer ownership in minutes through Qatar’s Ministry of Municipality’s newly launched online service.
Camal chips are the e-chips that are used as ownership registration documents and include the colour, age and surname of the camel.
Authorities stated that the latest technological addition aims to allow the circulation of camel chips to users with ease. It also avoids any violations that may result from non-updated trade transactions. It is now available through the ministry’s website Aoun in a mobile application. Through this move, camel trade can become easier and faster for owners around the country.
Instead of visiting a government facility to change the camel’s chip number after the sale, traders can now transfer the chip number to one another through a click on the application.
Similar to those for house pets, camel microchip implants include all the data about the camel, including its colour, age and surname. The e-chips also have details regarding where the camel owner could buy and sell the camels, just like an ownership registration document.
Assistant Undersecretary for Shared Services Affairs at the Ministry of Municipality Hamad Khalifa Al Khalifa said that “the new service was developed and launched in cooperation between the Animal Wealth Department and the Information Systems Department, to allow the circulation of camel chips to users with ease and by displaying the chips registered in their names, in order to avoid violations of the ban on grazing that may be recorded on a chip whose owner sold it and the new owner of the chip did not number it at the Animal Wealth Department.”
Director of the Animal Wealth Department Engineer Abdulaziz Al-Ziyara said, “the camel ownership transfer service, that was launched for citizens, can be used according to several conditions, including that it does not allow the beneficiary to benefit from a certificate of the animal wealth breeder, for those who do not have a prior registration and numbering form and also including dispensing fodder or applying for a permit for a farm, or any place to house animals, whether permanent or temporary.”
One of the officials noted that the ministry is not responsible for errors caused by the incorrect entry of data or information regarding the camel ownership transfer service. Furthermore, it cannot be held liable for agreements between the two parties. Technical staff at the department in charge of information systems at the Ministry of Municipality developed the brand-new electronic service for this purpose.
Director of the Animal Wealth Department Engineer Abdulaziz Al-Ziyara explained that the service includes each camels’ registered numbering form and is identical to the animal’s chip number. If there is a case of an environmental violation, including grazing, the service will not allow for the transfer of the animal.
The camels also had a huge significance in terms of religion. They were heavily used by travellers to spread Islam in different regions across the world, given the animal’s great tolerance to extreme climatic conditions.
Even in the present era, animals are still a huge part of the Qatari culture. Camel breeding is very common in the region, especially in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and many also use them for sports, such as camel racing.
