Chapter I

General Provisions

Article 1 This Law is enacted for the purpose of strengthening the administration of animal epidemic prevention, preventing, controlling and eliminating animal epidemics, promoting the development of the breeding industry, protecting human health, and maintaining public health and safety.

Article 2 This Law is applicable to animal epidemic prevention as well as supervision and control in this respect within the territory of the People’s Republic of China.

The quarantine of animals and animal products for enter or exit shall be governed by the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Entry and Exit Animal and Plant Quarantine.

Article 3 For the purposes of this Law, animals include livestock and poultry and other animals that are raised by man or are legally captured.

Animal products include animals’ meat, rawhides, raw wool, down, viscera, fat, blood, semen, spawn, embryos, bones, hoofs, heads, horns and tendons as well as milk and eggs which are liable to cause the spread of animal epidemics.

Animal epidemics are infectious and parasitic animal diseases.

Animal epidemic prevention means the prevention, control and elimination of animal epidemics as well as the quarantine of animals and animal products.

Article 4 On the basis of the harmfulness of animal epidemics to the breeding industry and to human health, the epidemics under control as prescribed by this Law are classified in the following three categories:

(1) CategoryⅠincludes epidemics which menace human beings and animals to such a serious degree that emergency and rigorous mandatory measures need to be taken to prevent, control and eliminate them;

(2) CategoryⅡ includes epidemics which are liable to cause major financial losses and call for strict measures to control and eliminate them, and to prevent them from spreading; and

(3) Category Ⅲ includes epidemics which are common and frequently-occurring, are liable to cause heavy economic losses and need to be controlled and for which decontamination is necessary.

The catalogues of the specific diseases under Categories I, II and III of animal epidemics mentioned in the preceding paragraph shall be compiled and published by the administrative department for veterinary medicine under the State Council.

Article 5 The State applies the principle of putting prevention first to animal epidemics.

Article 6 People’s governments at or above the county level shall improve their unified leadership over animal epidemic prevention, organize strong teams for animal epidemic prevention at the grassroots, establish sound systems for animal epidemic prevention, and work out, and organize the implementation of programs for animal epidemic prevention and control.

People’s governments at the township level and the neighborhood offices in cities shall get the people organized to help make a success of animal epidemic prevention and control in the areas under their jurisdiction respectively.

Article 7 The administrative department for veterinary medicine under the State Council shall be in charge of animal epidemic prevention nationwide.

The administrative departments for veterinary medicine under the local people’s governments at or above the county level shall be in charge of animal epidemic prevention in their respective administrative areas.

The other departments under the local people’s governments at or above the county level shall, within the limits of their respective duties, make a success of animal epidemic prevention.

The functioning departments for animal health supervision in the Army and the Armed-Police Force shall be in charge of epidemic prevention among the animals in active service and the animals raised for their own use.

Article 8 The animal health supervision institutions set up by the local people’s governments at or above the county level shall, in compliance with the provisions of this Law, be responsible for quarantine of animals and animal products and for supervision, administration and law enforcement with regard to animal epidemic prevention.

Article 9 People’s governments at or above the county level shall, according to the regulations of the State Council and on the basis of the principle of overall planning, rational geographical distribution and integrated arrangement, establish institutions for prevention and control of animal epidemics, which shall undertake the tasks of monitoring, detection, diagnosis, epidemiological investigation, reporting on epidemic situation and other technical work in respect of epidemic prevention and control.

Article 10 The State supports and encourages scientific research and international cooperation and exchange in animal epidemics, in order to promote the wide use of advanced and applicable findings of scientific research, disseminate scientific knowledge about animal epidemic prevention, and help raise the scientific and technical level of animal epidemic prevention and control.

Article 11 People’s governments and the departments concerned shall give awards to the units and individuals that have scored successes or made contributions in, animal epidemic prevention and in scientific research in this field of endeavor.

Chapter II

Prevention of Animal Epidemics

Article 12 The administrative department for veterinary medicine under the State Council shall conduct risk assessment of animal epidemic conditions and, on the basis of the results of assessment, formulate appropriate measures for prevention and control of animal epidemics.

The administrative department for veterinary medicine under the State Council shall, in light of the animal epidemic situations at home and abroad and the need of protecting the production of the breeding industry and human health, draw up and publish, in a timely manner, the technical specifications for animal epidemic prevention and control.

Article 13 The State implements mandatory immunization against animal epidemics that seriously harm production of the breeding industry and human health. The administrative department for veterinary medicine under the State Council shall determine the specific kinds of animal epidemics and areas that are subject to mandatory immunization and shall, jointly with the departments concerned under the State Council, formulate national plans for mandatory immunization against animal epidemics.

The administrative departments for veterinary medicine under the people’s governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall, on the basis of the national plans for mandatory immunization against animal epidemics, formulate plans for mandatory immunization in their respective administrative areas; and they may have more kinds of animal epidemics and areas subject to mandatory immunization, depending on the spread of animal epidemics in their respective administrative areas, do so upon approval by the people’s governments at the same levels, and report to the administrative department for veterinary medicine under the State Council for the record.