Draft Circular of the Minister of Agriculture

The Draft Circular consolidates and updates Viet Nam's rules on the management of livestock breeds and livestock breed products. It covers the international exchange of rare and precious animal genetic resources; the export or international exchange of livestock breeds and livestock breed products included in the List of livestock breeds prohibited from export; the List of livestock breeds requiring conservation; and the List of livestock breeds prohibited from export. It also prescribes requirements and procedures for testing and recognition of testing results for livestock lines and breeds; recognition of new livestock lines and breeds; minimum quality levels for livestock breeds; and certificates of training in artificial insemination and embryo transfer techniques. Applications may be submitted in person, by post or electronically, with specified processing time limits and responsibilities for updating the national livestock database. The Draft Circular maintains and standardizes four administrative procedures, clarifies central and provincial competence, reduces or simplifies processing requirements, and strengthens traceability, electronic processing and post-market control. It does not maintain the former procedure for registration of breed testing or the former procedure for first-time import of breeding males, semen and embryos; importers remain responsible for origin, declared standards and quality under applicable legislation. The Draft Circular will replace…