More Epidemic Diseases in Pig Farms, Further Improving Animal Epidemic Prevention System

On September 7, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs announced the revised "Administrative Measures for Animal Diagnosis and Treatment Institutions", "Administrative Measures for Animal Quarantine", "Administrative Measures for Animal Epidemic Prevention Conditions Review Measures" and the newly formulated "Administrative Measures for Practicing Veterinarians and Rural Veterinarians" (hereinafter referred to as the "Four" Measures "). Among them, the "Administrative Measures for Animal Diagnosis and Treatment Institutions", "Administrative Measures for Practicing Veterinarians and Rural Veterinarians" came into effect on October 1, and the "Administrative Measures for Animal Quarantine" and "Measures for Review of Animal Epidemic Prevention Conditions" came into effect on December 1. Recently, the relevant person in charge of the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs answered reporters' questions on the four "Measures.

Q: What is the background and purpose of the revision of the four Measures?

 

Answer: Animal diagnosis and treatment, quarantine, epidemic prevention conditions review and veterinary management are important aspects of animal epidemic prevention. The current "Administrative Measures for Animal Diagnosis and Treatment Institutions", "Administrative Measures for Practicing Veterinarians", "Administrative Measures for Rural Veterinarians", "Administrative Measures for Animal Quarantine" and "Administrative Measures for Review of Animal Epidemic Prevention Conditions" were formulated in 2008 and 2010 respectively, which have played an important role in standardizing the management of animal epidemic prevention activities and maintaining the production safety and public health safety of the breeding industry, the reform of practicing veterinary examination and site selection evaluation of relevant places has been accelerated, and some provisions are no longer suitable for the current work reality and need to be revised and improved. The executive meeting of the State Council held on June 24, 2020 decided to promote the reform of the law to reform the veterinary qualification examination method, allowing veterinary-related college students to apply for the examination during the school period and obtain the qualification when they graduate. At the same time, the cancellation of the registration of practicing veterinarians and the registration license of rural veterinarians has lowered the employment threshold. As long as the personnel who have obtained the qualification of practicing veterinarians can practice, those who have a secondary education or above in veterinary related majors can serve as rural veterinarians. The the People's Republic of China Animal Epidemic Prevention Law (hereinafter referred to as the Animal Epidemic Prevention Law) revised in 2021 adjusted and strengthened the review of animal epidemic prevention conditions, animal quarantine and other system regulations, established an official veterinarian appointment system, adjusted the registration requirements for practicing veterinarians, and encouraged rural veterinarians to change to practicing veterinarians.

In order to meet the needs of animal epidemic prevention work and reform requirements, and to link up with the provisions of the upper law, the Ministry of Agriculture and villages set up a drafting group to revise and improve the five original measures, and merged the "measures for the Administration of practicing Veterinary Medicine" and "measures for the Administration of Rural Veterinary Medicine" into the "measures for the Administration of practicing Veterinary Medicine and Rural Veterinary Medicine", forming four newly announced "measures".

 

Q: What new regulations have been made in this revision to regulate the management of animal diagnosis and treatment activities?

 

A: the measures for the Administration of Animal diagnosis and treatment institutions stipulates that animal diagnosis and treatment includes animal health examination, sampling, autopsy, dispensing, administration, acupuncture and moxibustion, surgery, filling in medical certificates and issuing relevant certification documents for animal diagnosis and treatment, and further clearly defines the scope of animal diagnosis and treatment activities. Licensing conditions are set for three types of animal clinics, namely animal clinics, animal hospitals and other institutions that provide animal care services. The first is to stipulate the basic conditions that animal diagnosis and treatment institutions should have in terms of site selection and layout, facilities and equipment, employees and management systems. The second is to stipulate that in addition to meeting the basic conditions, animal clinics should also have more than one practicing veterinarian, and have a reasonable layout of operating rooms and surgical equipment. Third, it is stipulated that in addition to meeting the basic conditions, animal hospitals should also have more than three practicing veterinarians, X-ray machines or B- ultrasound and other equipment, as well as operating rooms and surgical equipment with reasonable layout. Fourth, it is stipulated that if the animal diagnosis and treatment institution does not have the corresponding conditions, the name of "animal clinic" or "animal hospital" shall not be used.

At the same time, the "Administrative Measures for Animal Diagnosis and Treatment Institutions" has also made a series of new regulations in strengthening diagnosis and treatment management, mainly including clearly establishing and improving the information management system of animal diagnosis and treatment institutions, implementing online licensing, and optimizing the work process; according to the development characteristics of the industry, it has increased Relevant regulations on Internet diagnosis and treatment activities, student internships and practical teaching activities; standardized the types of medical records, the contents of records and the format and prescription notes, and preservation requirements.

 

Q: What are the new regulations and requirements for the management of practicing veterinarians and rural veterinarians?

 

Answer: In accordance with the requirements of the reform of "delegation, management and service", the "Administrative Measures for Practicing Veterinarians and Rural Veterinarians" detailed the qualification examination for practicing veterinarians and the filing regulations for practicing veterinarians and rural veterinarians. The first is to adjust the registration conditions for the licensed veterinary qualification examination, including full-time college students and rural veterinarians who have been engaged in animal diagnosis and treatment activities for more than ten years. The second is to clarify the examination categories and subjects. The examination categories are divided into veterinary general subjects and aquatic animals, including four subjects: basic, prevention, clinical and comprehensive application. The third is to improve the filing requirements, amending the registration of practicing veterinarians and the registration of rural veterinarians to filing, stipulating that those who have worked as village-level animal epidemic prevention officers for five years can file as rural veterinarians. The fourth is to allow multi-point practice, stipulating that practicing veterinarians can file multiple practicing animal diagnosis and treatment institutions, and rural veterinarians can practice in the villages of the county where the filing authority is located.

On this basis, this revision has added a number of management and service measures. The first is to establish and improve the information management system for practicing veterinarians and rural veterinarians, strengthen the supervision of practice activities, and improve the efficiency of filing. The second is to play the role of industry associations and require veterinary industry associations to provide veterinary personnel with information consultation, publicity and training, rights protection, dispute resolution and other services. Third, develop and implement continuing education programs for practicing veterinarians and rural veterinarians, and encourage veterinarians to receive continuing education. The fourth is to make detailed provisions on the scope of diagnosis and treatment activities of practicing assistant veterinarians, allowing practicing assistant veterinarians to independently engage in animal diagnosis and treatment activities in rural areas, and strengthening the power of animal diagnosis and treatment in rural areas.

 

Q: What has been done to strengthen and improve the animal quarantine system in this revision?

 

A: the measures for the Administration of Animal Quarantine have made detailed provisions on strengthening the strength of animal quarantine at the grass-roots level and optimizing the working mechanism. It is clear that the competent departments of agriculture and rural areas are responsible for the supervision and management of animal quarantine, animal disease prevention and control institutions provide relevant technical support, and adjust the institutions that accept the quarantine declaration of animals and animal products imported into epidemic-free areas. A special chapter on "official veterinarians" has been added to clarify the qualifications, appointment procedures, training and assessment requirements for official veterinarians, and strengthen the protection and reward regulations for personnel engaged in animal quarantine.

This revision has improved a number of systems from the formulation of quarantine regulations to the application and acceptance, and the implementation of quarantine. First, it is stipulated that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs shall formulate animal quarantine regulations to clarify animal quarantine objects, quarantine scope and quarantine procedures. The second is to improve the management regulations on animal quarantine declaration, clarify that electronic data exchange can be used to declare animal quarantine, unify the time limit for origin quarantine declaration and the time limit for animal quarantine, and stipulate the circumstances under which declaration will not be accepted. The third is to improve the quarantine standards for animals and animal products, and add quarantine standards for animals to continue to be sold and transported after completing transactions in bazaars or participating in exhibitions, performances, and competitions. The fourth is to delete the corresponding provisions such as the distribution of animal products that have passed the quarantine, the continued transportation after storage, or the re-declaration of quarantine for distribution, and adjust the scope of animal products that have passed the quarantine. Fifth, in accordance with the authorization of the Animal Epidemic Prevention Law, a special chapter on the management of animal quarantine certificates and signs has been added.

In order to ensure the implementation of the new system and new requirements, this revision also focuses on strengthening the innovation of supervision and management methods. The first is to clarify the construction of animal quarantine management information system, information filling and information data management requirements. The second is to clarify the circumstances under which quarantine certificates can be revoked and the identification of animals and animal products that should be quarantined according to law but have not been quarantined. Third, the conditions and measures for supplementary inspection of animals and animal products have been improved, and the qualified standards and scope of supplementary inspection have been clarified. Fourth, to strengthen the landing report, livestock and poultry transfer to implement the owner or carrier, receiving animal breeding or slaughterhouse double reporting system.

 

Q: After this revision, what are the characteristics of the new review system for animal epidemic prevention conditions?

 

A: in order to improve the level of service convenience, combined with the actual needs of epidemic prevention and control and grass-roots needs, this revision focuses on adjusting the location distance of four types of places (hereinafter referred to as "four types of places"), such as animal farms, isolation places, slaughtering and processing places, and harmless treatment places, and authorizes provincial agricultural and rural authorities to formulate site selection evaluation methods. In addition, this revision also adjusts the requirements for animal epidemic prevention conditions such as staffing, layout, facilities, equipment and systems in relevant places. The first is to clarify the staffing requirements and employment restrictions, stipulating that the four types of places should be equipped with licensed veterinarians or animal epidemic prevention technicians suitable for their production and operation scale, and people suffering from zoonotic diseases shall not directly engage in related activities in the places. The second is to standardize the layout of places and adjust the layout conditions of four types of places and bazaars dealing in animals and animal products. The third is to increase the requirements for facilities and equipment, stipulating that four types of places should have necessary anti-rat, bird, and insect-proof facilities, as well as harmless treatment, cleaning and disinfection facilities and equipment. The fourth is to improve the epidemic prevention system, and to supplement and improve the epidemic prevention system that should be established in the four types of places. Fifth, strengthen the management of epidemic prevention in live poultry markets, and make special provisions on the conditions for animal epidemic prevention to reduce the risk of epidemic disease transmission.

This revision has also refined and improved the examination and certification procedures and supervision and management requirements, mainly including: for the establishment of four types of places such as farms, the site selection shall be confirmed according to the evaluation results before construction; After the completion of the site construction, the issuing authority will review the epidemic prevention conditions according to the application and in combination with the site selection evaluation results, and the processing time limit will be reduced from 20 working days to 15 working days. After the site is put into operation, the competent departments at the county level shall promptly carry out supervision and inspection of animal epidemic prevention conditions and guide the implementation of various epidemic prevention measures.

 

Q: How to do a good job in the implementation of the four "measures?

 

A: In order to ensure the effective implementation of the new measures, we will carry out the following work.

One is to strengthen the publicity and interpretation of the four "measures. Do a good job in the detailed interpretation of the main provisions of the four "Measures", answer in detail the issues of concern in the industry, promote relevant units and practitioners to know the law, understand the law and abide by the law, and continue to improve the ability of supervision and management, industry guidance, and administration according to law.

Second, continue to improve the supporting system. It mainly includes revising the "Veterinary Prescription Format and Application Specification", improving the management system of animal diagnosis and treatment medical records, and formulating continuing education plans for practicing veterinarians and rural veterinarians. Revise relevant animal quarantine regulations, improve the format and filling requirements of animal quarantine badge signs; Guide all localities to formulate and improve the site selection evaluation methods for animal epidemic prevention conditions, and standardize the site selection evaluation.

The third is to do a good job in the transition between the old and new methods. In contrast to the "Measures for the Review of Animal Epidemic Prevention Conditions" and the "Measures for the Management of Animal Diagnosis and Treatment Institutions", the existing relevant places need to be adjusted and improved in terms of layout, facilities and equipment, and management systems. The new method sets a transition period of about one year for rectification and reform, and our ministry will organize all localities to guide practitioners to do a smooth transition work.

The fourth is to carry out post-legislative assessment in due course. Through self-evaluation, field investigation and questionnaire survey, the implementation of the four "measures" is evaluated, so as to timely understand the implementation of the new system in various regions, summarize the results, find out the deficiencies, and put forward measures and suggestions to improve the system.