Animal Health

ZMB- Legal Hub - Animal health - Picture © Brent Stirton

SUMMARY

The law defines operative terms such as veterinary practice, veterinarian, veterinary para-professional, community animal health worker and related terms. Although the law establishes the Veterinary Statutory Bodies , such as the Veterinary Council and  the Veterinary Association, and indicates their competences and functions, these functions, in certain cases, seem to overlap (e.g. development of standards of qualification, promotion of good practice and maintenance of high standards in the veterinary profession). Performing functions of a veterinarian without registration is a criminal offence. Persons must notify the proper authority immediately or forthwith in case of knowledge or suspicion of an infectious or notifiable disease, and the competent authorities can then appoint veterinary inspectors in order to take needed action. The law authorizes the Minister, in consultation with the Director, to declare an area to be a disease-free zone, and to undertake all the necessary measures such as regulating movement and transportation of people, animals and conveyance within, in and out of the zones. There is no provision for the formulation of a contingency plan, but the Minister can declare an animal disease emergency in certain cases. The law requires the competent authority to prepare and publish lists of animals that require a health certificate or permit before they may be imported into Zambia. Depending on the product and disease, the law enables different authorities to issue the proper certificate (the Director of Veterinary Services or a Veterinary Officer), and empowers the Minister to provide for the regulation of the importation of animals and related products. The Border Management and Trade Facilitation Act refers to generic temporary measures that a border authority may take in the interest of public safety and public health. The Stock Disease Regulations refer to the certificate and the statement of a foreign veterinary on whose opinion the importation of specified animal products is allowed, but only in the case of East Coast Fever and African Swine Fever. The law mentions a register of approved veterinary medicinal products, and provides for a prescribed list of veterinary medicinal products that the Authority may authorize a person to sell. The law allows for cases in which the authority may delegate its powers and functions to other actors, such as committees or authorities.

REGULATION OF THE VETERINARY PROFESSION

SURVEILLANCE AND MONITORING

DISEASE CONTROL

CONTINGENCY PLANNING AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE

IMPORT CONTROL AND EXPORT CERTIFICATION

VETERINARY LABORATORIES

VETERINARY MEDICINAL PRODUCTS (VMPs)

INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK RELEVANT TO ANIMAL HEALTH