Animal Epidemic Prevention Law of the People's Republic of China (2021 Revision)

Animal Epidemic Prevention Law of the People's Republic of China (2021 Revision) 中华人民共和国动物防疫法(2021修订) Order of the President of the People's Republic of China (No. 69) The Animal Epidemic Prevention Law of the People's Republic of China, as revised and adopted at the 25th Session of the Standing Committee of the Thirteenth National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on January 22, 2021, is hereby issued, and shall come into force on May 1, 2021. President of the People's Republic of China: Xi Jinping January 22, 2021 Animal Epidemic Prevention Law of the People's Republic of China (Adopted at the 26th Session of the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People's Congress on July 3, 1997, revised for the first time at the 29th Session of the Standing Committee of the Tenth National People's Congress on August 30, 2007, amended for the first time in accordance with the Decision to Amend Twelve Laws including the Cultural Relics Protection Law of the People's Republic of China as adopted at the 3rd Session of the Standing Committee of the Twelfth National People's Congress on June 29, 2013, amended for the second time in accordance with the Decision to Amend Six Laws including the Electric Power Law of the People's Republic of China as adopted at the 14th Session of the Standing Committee of the Twelfth National People's Congress on April 24, 2015, and revised for the second time at the 25th Session of the Standing Committee of the Thirteenth National People's Congress on January 22, 2021) Table of Contents Chapter I General Provisions Chapter II Prevention of Animal Epidemics Chapter III Reporting, Notification and Announcement of Animal Epidemic Situation Chapter IV Control of Animal Epidemics Chapter V Quarantine of Animals and Animal Products Chapter VI Innocuous Treatment of Animals Died of Diseases and Products of Diseased Animals Chapter VII Animal Diagnosis and Treatment Chapter VIII Management of Veterinarians Chapter IX Supervision and Administration Chapter X Safeguard Measures Chapter XI Legal Liability Chapter XII Supplemental Provisions Chapter I General Provisions Article 1 This Law is enacted for the purposes of strengthening the administration of animal epidemic prevention activities, preventing, containing, decontaminating and eliminating animal epidemics, promoting the development of the breeding industry, preventing and containing anthropozoonosis, and safeguarding public health and safety and human health. Article 2 This Law shall apply to animal epidemic prevention and the supervision and administration thereof within the territory of the People's Republic of China. The Law of the People's Republic of China on the Quarantine of Imported and Exported Animals and Plants shall apply to the quarantine of animals and animal products entering or leaving China. Article 3 For the purpose of this Law, “animals” means livestock and poultry and other animals that are raised or captured by man. For the purpose of this Law, “animal products” means animals' meat, raw hide, raw hair, fine hair, viscera, fat, blood, semen, spawn, embryos, bones, hoofs, heads, horns and tendons as well as milk and eggs that may spread animal epidemics, among others. For the purpose of this Law, “animal epidemics” means infectious animal diseases, including parasitic diseases. For the purpose of this Law, “animal epidemic prevention” means the prevention, control, diagnosis and treatment, decontamination and elimination of animal epidemics, the quarantine of animals and animal products, and the innocuous treatment of animals died of diseases and products of diseased animals. Article 4 Based on the degree of harm of animal epidemics to the production of the breeding industry and human health, animal epidemics as prescribed by this Law are classified into the following three categories: (1) “Category I epidemics” means foot and mouth disease, African swine fever, highly pathogenic avian influenza and other epidemics which cause serious harm to human beings and animals and may cause great economic losses and social impacts and against which emergent and strict compulsory measures shall be taken to prevent and contain them. (2) “Category II epidemics” means rabies, brucellosis, hemorrhagic disease of grass carp and other epidemics which cause serious harm to human beings and animals and may cause relatively large economic losses and social impacts and against which strict measures shall be taken to prevent and contain them. (3) “Category III epidemics” means common and frequently-occurring diseases, such as colibacillosis, avian tuberculosis and parotitis of soft-shelled turtle, which do harm to human beings and animals and may cause economic losses and social impacts to a certain extent and shall be prevented and contained in a timely manner. The catalogues of specific animal epidemic diseases of Categories I, II and III as mentioned in the preceding paragraph shall be developed and published by the department of agriculture and rural affairs of the State Council. The department of agriculture and rural affairs of the State Council shall, according to the outbreak and prevalence of animal epidemics as well as the degree of harm, increase, decrease or adjust in a timely manner the specific animal epidemic diseases of Categories I, II and III and announce them to the public. The catalogue of anthropozoonosis shall be developed and published by the department of agriculture and rural affairs of the State Council in conjunction with the health, wildlife protection and other departments of the State Council. Article 5 Animal epidemic prevention shall follow the principles of giving priority to prevention and integrating prevention with control, decontamination and elimination. Article 6 The state encourages social forces to participate in animal epidemic prevention. People's governments at all levels shall take measures to support entities and individuals' participation in such activities as the publicity of and education on animal epidemic prevention, reporting of epidemic situation, voluntary services and donations. Article 7 Entities and individuals engaged in such activities as the breeding, slaughtering, trading, isolation and transport of animals as well as the manufacturing, trading, processing and storage of animal products shall, in accordance with this Law and the provisions issued by the department of agriculture and rural affairs of the State Council, effectively conduct the work on animal epidemic prevention such as immunization, disinfection, detection, isolation, decontamination, elimination and innocuous treatment, and assume relevant responsibilities for animal epidemic prevention. Article 8 People's governments at or above the county level shall lead animal epidemic prevention in a unified manner, take effective measures to stabilize grassroots teams of institutions, make more efforts in building teams for animal epidemic prevention, establish and improve the animal epidemic prevention system, and develop and organize the implementation of animal epidemic prevention and control programs. People's governments at the township level and sub-district offices shall organize people to effectively prevent and contain animal epidemics within their respective jurisdictions, and villagers' committees and residents' committees shall provide assistance. Article 9 The department of agriculture and rural affairs of the State Council shall take charge of animal epidemic prevention nationwide. The departments of agriculture and rural affairs of local people's governments at or above the county level shall take charge of animal epidemic prevention in their respective administrative regions. Other relevant departments of people's governments at or above the county level shall effectively conduct animal epidemic prevention within their respective scope of duties. The functional departments of animal health supervision in the military shall take charge of epidemic prevention among animals in active service and animals raised for their own use. Article 10 The health departments of people's governments at or above the county level and agriculture and rural affairs, wildlife protection, and other departments of people's governments at the same level shall establish a cooperation mechanism for preventing and containing anthropozoonosis. The department of agriculture and rural affairs of the State Council, the General Administration of Customs and other departments shall establish a cooperation mechanism for preventing the spread of animal epidemics from abroad. Article 11 Animal health supervision institutions of local people's governments at or above the county level shall, in accordance with the provisions of this Law, be responsible for the quarantine of animals and animal products. Article 12 People's governments at or above the county level shall establish animal epidemic prevention and control institutions according to the provisions issued by the State Council under the principles of overall planning, rational layout and integrated setup. Animal epidemic prevention and control institutions shall undertake the monitoring, detection, diagnosis, epidemiological investigation, reporting of epidemic situation and other technical work such as the prevention and control of animal epidemics, and undertake the technical work of decontamination and elimination of animal epidemics. Article 13 The state encourages and supports scientific research and international cooperation and exchange on animal epidemics, and shall popularize advanced and applicable scientific research achievements, so as to raise the scientific and technological level of animal epidemic prevention and control. People's governments at all levels, the relevant departments and news media shall strengthen the publicity of laws and regulations on animal epidemic prevention as well as the knowledge on animal epidemic prevention. Article 14 Entities and individuals that have made contributions in animal epidemic prevention, the relevant scientific research and the elimination of animal epidemics shall be commended and rewarded by people's governments at all levels and the relevant departments according to the relevant provisions issued by the state. Relevant entities shall pay work-related injury insurance premiums for animal epidemic prevention personnel in accordance with the law. Subsidies or pensions shall be given to the personnel infected with diseases, are disabled or died due to the participation in animal epidemic prevention according to the relevant provisions issued by the state. Chapter II Prevention of Animal Epidemics Article 15 The state shall establish the system of assessing the risks of animal epidemics. The department of agriculture and rural affairs of the State Council shall, in light of animal epidemic situation at home and abroad and the requirements for protecting the production of the breeding industry and safeguarding human health, assess the risks of animal epidemics in conjunction with the health and other relevant departments of the State Council in a timely manner, and develop and publish the measures and technical specifications for the prevention, control, decontamination and elimination of animal epidemics. The departments of agriculture and rural affairs of people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall, in conjunction with the health and other relevant departments of people's governments at the same level, assess the risks of animal epidemics within their administrative regions, and implement the measures for the prevention, control, decontamination and elimination of animal epidemics. Article 16 The state implements compulsory vaccination against animal epidemics that seriously endanger the production of the breeding industry and human health. The department of agriculture and rural affairs of the State Council shall determine animal epidemic diseases that are subject to compulsory vaccination and relevant areas. The departments of agriculture and rural affairs of people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall develop plans for compulsory vaccination in their respective administrative regions; and according to the prevalence of animal epidemics in their respective administrative regions, add animal epidemic diseases that shall be subject to compulsory vaccination and relevant areas after obtaining the approval of people's governments at the same level, and file a report with the department of agriculture and rural affairs of the State Council for recordation. Article 17 The entities and individuals that raise animals shall perform their obligations of compulsory vaccination against animal epidemics, vaccinate animals according to compulsory vaccination plans and technical specifications, and shall, according to the relevant provisions issued by the state, establish vaccination archives and attach labels of livestock and poultry, so as to ensure traceability. Where any animal subject to compulsory vaccination fails to satisfy the vaccination quality requirements, or still fails to satisfy the vaccination quality requirements after supplementary vaccination, the relevant entity or individual shall handle the situation according to the relevant provisions issued by the state. The vaccines used for prophylactic vaccination shall satisfy the quality standards of the state. Article 18 The departments of agriculture and rural affairs of local people's governments at or above the county level shall organize the implementation of plans for compulsory vaccination against animal epidemics and conduct the supervision and inspection of the fulfillment of the compulsory vaccination obligation by the entities and individuals that raise animals. People's governments at the township level and sub-district offices shall organize the entities and individuals raising animals within their respective jurisdictions to effectively conduct compulsory vaccination and assist in effective supervision and inspection. Villagers' committees and residents' committees shall assist in effectively completing the relevant work. The departments of agriculture and rural affairs of local people's governments at or above the county level shall, on a periodical basis, appraise the implementation of the plans for compulsory vaccination in their respective administrative regions and implementation effects, and announce appraisal results to the public. Article 19 The state implements the system of the monitoring of animal epidemics and epidemic warnings. People's governments at or above the county level shall establish and improve an animal epidemic monitoring network to strengthen the monitoring of animal epidemics. The department of agriculture and rural affairs of the State Council shall develop the national animal epidemic monitoring plan in conjunction with the relevant departments of the State Council. The departments of agriculture and rural affairs of people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall, according to the national animal epidemic monitoring plan, develop plans for animal epidemic monitoring in their respective administrative regions. Animal epidemic prevention and control institutions shall, according to the provisions issued by the department of agriculture and rural affairs of the State Council and animal epidemic monitoring plans, monitor the outbreak and prevalence of animal epidemics and other circumstances. The entities and individuals engaged in such activities as the breeding, slaughtering, trading, isolation and transport of animals and the manufacturing, trading, processing, storage and innocuous treatment of animal products shall not refuse to accept or obstruct such monitoring. The department of agriculture and rural affairs of the State Council and the departments of agriculture and rural affairs of people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall, in a timely manner, give animal epidemic warnings based on the forecasting on the outbreak and trend of prevalence of animal epidemics. Local people's governments at all levels shall take prevention and control measures in a timely manner after receiving animal epidemic warnings. Article 20 The people's governments of land border provinces and autonomous regions shall, as required for animal epidemic prevention and control, reasonably set up animal epidemic monitoring stations, improve the monitoring work mechanism, and prevent the spread of overseas animal epidemics. The science and technology, Customs and other departments shall, in accordance with the provisions of this Law and relevant laws and regulations, effectively monitor and give animal epidemic warnings, exchange information with the departments of agriculture and rural affairs on a periodical basis, and notify the relevant information in a timely manner in case of any emergency. People's governments at or above the county level shall improve the wildlife epidemic source and disease monitoring system and work mechanism, and make rational layout on monitoring stations as required. The departments of wildlife protection and agriculture and rural affairs shall, according to their respective duties, effectively conduct such work as monitoring wildlife epidemic sources and diseases, exchange information on a periodical basis, and notify the relevant information in a timely manner in case of any emergency. Article 21 The state supports local authorities' establishment of zones free from specified animal epidemics and encourages animal breeding farms to build bio-safety isolation zones free from specified animal epidemics. With respect to the zones free from specified animal epidemics and bio-safety isolation zones free from specified animal epidemics in compliance with the standards prescribed by the department of agriculture and rural affairs of the State Council, the department of agriculture and rural affairs of the State Council shall announce them to the public if they pass the acceptance check, and oversee and inspect their maintenance. People's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall develop and implement plans for the construction of zones free from specified animal epidemics in their respective administrative regions. The department of agriculture and rural affairs of the State Council shall direct the construction of zones free from specified animal epidemics across provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government. The department of agriculture and rural affairs of the State Council shall conduct zoning prevention and control of animal epidemics according to administrative divisions, distribution of breeding and slaughtering industries, risk assessment, and other situations, and may take such measures as prohibiting or restricting the transport of specific animals and animal products across different regions. Article 22 The department of agriculture and rural affairs of the State Council shall develop and organize the implementation of the programs for the decontamination and elimination of animal epidemics. Local people's governments at or above the county level shall, based on the plans for the decontamination and elimination of animal epidemics, develop and organize the implementation of plans for the decontamination and elimination of animal epidemics in their respective administrative regions. Animal epidemic prevention and control institutions shall, according to the program and plans for the decontamination and elimination of animal epidemics, provide technical guidance and training for the decontamination of animal epidemics, and monitor and assess the results of decontamination of animal epidemics. The state promotes the decontamination of animal epidemics, and encourages and supports the entities and individuals raising animals in conducting the decontamination of animal epidemics. If an entity or individual raising animals complies with the decontamination standards prescribed by the department of agriculture and rural affairs of the State Council, the department of agriculture and rural affairs of the people's government at or above the provincial level shall announce them to the public. Article 23 Breeding and dairy animals shall comply with the health standards prescribed by the department of agriculture and rural affairs of the State Council. Entities and individuals raising breeding and dairy animals shall, according to the requirements of the department of agriculture and rural affairs of the State Council, conduct regular detection of animal epidemics; and dispose of those that fail to pass the detection according to the relevant provisions issued by the state. Article 24 Animal breeding farms, isolation places, animal slaughtering and processing places, and places where animals and animal products are given innocuous treatment shall meet the following conditions for animal epidemic prevention: (1) They are located at a distance from such public places as residential areas, sources of drinking water, schools and hospitals, which complies with the provisions prescribed by the department of agriculture and rural affairs of the State Council. (2) The production and operation areas satisfy the requirements for animal epidemic prevention in terms of enclosure and isolation, engineering design and the relevant flow. (3) Having sewage and waste treatment facilities in commensurate with their scale, the facilities and equipment for the innocuous treatment or refrigeration of animals died of diseases and products of diseased animals, and the facilities and equipment for cleaning and disinfection. (4) Having licensed veterinarians or animal epidemic prevention technicians commensurate with their scale. (5) Having sound animal epidemic prevention rules on isolation and disinfection, purchase and sale records and routine inspection, among others. (6) Meeting other conditions for animal epidemic prevention prescribed by the department of agriculture and rural affairs of the State Council. The places for the innocuous treatment of animals and animal products shall, in addition to meeting the conditions prescribed in the preceding paragraph, have pathogen detection equipment, detection capability, and special vehicles in compliance with the requirements for animal epidemic prevention. Article 25 The state implements the system of examination of animal epidemic prevention conditions. For the establishment of an animal breeding farm or isolation place, animal slaughtering and processing place, or a place where animals and animal products are given innocuous treatment, an application shall be filed with the department of agriculture and rural affairs of the local people's government at or above the country level, with the relevant materials attached. The department of agriculture and rural affairs that accepts the application shall conduct examination in accordance with the provisions of this Law and the Administrative Licensing Law of People's Republic of China. If the application passes the examination, the certificate of compliance with animal epidemic prevention conditions shall be issued to the applicant; otherwise, the applicant shall be notified of the failure to pass the examination and the reasons. The applicant's title (name), address of the farm (factory), types of animals (animal products), and other matters shall also be indicated on the certificate of compliance with animal epidemic prevention conditions. Article 26 The markets trading in animals and animal products shall meet the conditions for animal epidemic prevention prescribed by the department of agriculture and rural affairs of the State Council, and accept the supervision and inspection of the department of agriculture and rural affairs. The specific measures shall be developed by the department of agriculture and rural affairs of the State Council. Local people's governments at or above the county level shall decide to prohibit the trading of live livestock and poultry in certain urban areas based on local conditions. Article 27 The means of delivery, beddings, packages and containers, among others, for animals and animal products shall comply with the requirements for animal epidemic prevention prescribed by the department of agriculture and rural affairs of the State Council. Animals infected with epidemics and their excrement, products of animals infected with epidemics, animals' excrement in the means of delivery, and contaminated articles such as beddings, packages and containers shall be treated according to the relevant provisions issued by the state and shall not be disposed of at will. Article 28 Such activities as the collection, preservation and transport of animal pathological materials or pathogenic microorganisms as well as the research, teaching, detection and diagnosis of pathogeni......