State Veterinary Services Department director, Dr Quaza Nizamuddin Hassan Nizam, said since the implementation of the enactment in January this year, only 473 of the 805 farms in the state had applied to be licensed.

Farmers who rear chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, quail, pigeons and ostriches are covered under the enactment, reports The Star of Malaysia.

Explaining the procedure, Dr Quaza Nizamuddin said farmers merely needed to fill up a one-page form which was available at all the department's district offices and within two weeks, their personnel would be deployed to inspect the farm.

"If the farmers do not know how to fill up the form, we can even help them," he added, allaying fears that the process was a tedious one.

Speaking at a press conference in Ipoh last week, Dr Quaza Nizamuddin said the licence would be issued to the farmers once the department found everything in the farm was in order.

"In the event the farms need to undergo upgrading to ensure they meet with specifications stipulated under the enactment, the operators will be given time to do so," he added.

He stressed that it was not the department’s intention to make farmers' lives difficult.

"By being registered, it will allow us to ensure poultry farming in the state is done in a structured manner which is both public and environmentally friendly," he said.

Poultry farming, noted Dr Quaza Nizamuddin, contributed at least one billion ringgit (MYR) to the state annually.

"Chicken farming contributes MYR844 million while duck farming contributes MYR196 million to the state,” he said, adding that five million ducks from Perak are exported to Singapore annually.

To a question, he said farmers' apathy was the main reason why they refused to register for the licence.

The Star report adds that, while the department had yet to take action against unlicensed farms since the implementation of the enactment, he hoped farmers would not wait until enforcement officers raided their farms.

He reminded farmers that under the enactment, the department was empowered to close down farms which had failed to register.