Chapter IV

Control and Elimination of Animal Epidemics

Article 31 When an animal epidemic of CategoryⅠbreaks out, the following measures shall be taken to control and eliminate it:

(1) The administrative department for veterinary medicine under the local people’s government at or above the county level shall immediately dispatch people to the scene to demarcate the epidemic place, the epidemic area and the vulnerable area, find out the source of the epidemic and report, in a timely manner, to the people’s government at the same level, requesting it to impose a blockade around the epidemic area. If an epidemic area covers two or more administrative areas, the blockade shall be imposed by the common people’s government at the next higher level in charge of these administrative areas, or jointly by the people’s governments at the next higher level in charge of these administrative areas respectively;

(2) The local people’s government at or above the county level shall immediately organize the departments and units concerned in an effort to take mandatory measures, such as blockade, isolation, killing, destruction, disinfection, innocuous treatment and emergency vaccination, in order to wipe out the epidemic quickly; and

(3) During the period of blockade, no animals or products of animals that have contracted or are suspected of having contracted or are susceptible to the epidemic shall be allowed to leave the epidemic area, and no animals in the non-epidemic areas that are susceptible to the epidemic shall be allowed to enter the epidemic area, and sterilization and other restrictive measures shall, in light of the need for eliminating the animal epidemic, be taken with regard to the persons, means of transport and goods that enter or leave the blockaded area.

Article 32 When an animal epidemic of CategoryⅡbreaks out, the following measures shall be taken to control and eliminate it:

(1) The administrative department for veterinary medicine under the local people’s government at or above the county level shall demarcate the epidemic place, epidemic area and vulnerable area; and

(2) The local people’s government at or above the county level shall, where necessary, organize the departments and units concerned in an effort to take measures to control and eliminate it, such as isolation, killing, destruction, disinfection, innocuous treatment and emergency vaccination, and restrictions on the susceptible animals, animal products and related goods as to their leaving or entering the epidemic area.

Article 33 The cancellation of a demarcated epidemic place, epidemic area and vulnerable area and the lift of the blockade of an epidemic area shall be decided on and announced by the authority that originally made such decision, on the basis of the assessment made according to the standards and in compliance with the procedure laid down by the administrative department for veterinary medicine under the State Council.

Article 34 When an animal epidemic of Category Ⅲ breaks out, the local people’s government at the county or township level shall, in accordance with the regulations of the administrative department for veterinary medicine under the State Council, organize efforts for its prevention and control and for decontamination.

Article 35 When an animal epidemic of Category Ⅱ or Ⅲ fulminates, it shall be dealt with the same way as an animal epidemic of CategoryⅠis.

Article 36 For the purpose of controlling and eliminating an animal epidemic, the animal health supervision institution shall send people to carry out the tasks of supervision and inspection at the legally-established local checkpoints; when necessary, a provisional checkpoint for animal health supervision and inspection may be set up to carry out the tasks, upon approval by the people’s government of a province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government.

Article 37 When a zoonosis breaks out, the department in charge of health shall organize efforts to monitor the susceptible population in the epidemic area and take the necessary measures for its prevention and control.

Article 38 The relevant units and individuals in an epidemic area shall comply with the regulations for control and elimination of animal epidemics formulated by the people’s government at or above the county level and its administrative department for veterinary medicine according to law.

No units or individuals may hide, transfer, or rob the animals and animal products which are isolated, sealed up or disposed of in accordance with law.

Article 39 When an animal epidemic breaks out, the transport departments, including the departments of civil aviation, railway, highways and waterways, shall give first priority to transporting persons who are sent to control and eliminate the epidemic and the goods to be used for the purpose.

Article 40 In the case of a sudden outbreak and rapid spreading of an animal epidemic of Category 1, 2 or 3, which result in a major animal epidemic situation in which production and safety of the breeding industry may be seriously menaced and jeopardized and people’s health and lives may possibly be endangered, emergency measures shall be taken to cope with the situation according to law and the regulations of the State Council.

Chapter V

Quarantine of Animals and Animal Products

Article 41 Animal health supervision institutions shall, pursuant to the provisions of the provisions of this Law and the regulations of the administrative department for veterinary medicine under the State Council, perform quarantine on animals and animal products.

Official veterinarians of the animal health supervision institutions shall perform specific quarantine on animals and animal products. Such official veterinarians shall have the specified qualifications and qualification certificates issued by the administrative department for veterinary medicine under the State Council. The specific measures in this respect shall be formulated by the administrative department for veterinary medicine and the personnel administration department under the State Council.

For the purposes of this Law, official veterinarians are the veterinarians of the State who have obtained the specified qualifications and are appointed by the administrative department for veterinary medicine under the State Council, and are responsible for issuing quarantine certificates, etc.

Article 42 Before slaughtering, selling or transporting animals, or selling or transporting animal products, the owner shall, according to the regulations of the administrative department for veterinary medicine under the State Council, submit an application to the local animal health supervision institution for quarantine.

Upon receiving an application for quarantine, the animal health supervision institution shall, in a timely manner, appoint official veterinarians to perform on-the-spot quarantine on the animals and animal products; it shall issue quarantine certificates for the animals and animal products that have passed the quarantine and attach to them the quarantine marks. Official veterinarians who perform on-the-spot quarantine shall sign their names on or affix their seals to the quarantine certificates or marks, and shall be accountable for the conclusion of the quarantine.

Article 43 Animals to be slaughtered, marketed, or transported, or used for exhibitions, performances or competitions, shall be attached with quarantine certificates; and animal products to be marketed or transported shall be attached with quarantine certificates and marks.

With respect to the animals and animal products mentioned in the preceding paragraph, the animal health supervision institutions may examine the quarantine certificates and marks, and make random samplings, and they may not collect charges a second time for such examination or sampling.

Article 44 For the animals and animal products to be transported by rail, highway, waterway or air, the consignor shall provide the quarantine certificates; the carriers shall not accept them for transport where no quarantine certificates are presented.

The means of transportation shall be cleaned and disinfected before loading and after unloading.