The Government at a meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Serik Zhumangarin considered proposals to reform the veterinary system.

The approaches presented by the Ministry of Agriculture to create a sustainable and universally developed veterinary system are in fact a continuation of the reform in this area that has been initiated in recent years. The approaches are based on two key components including full identification of farm animals through digital systems of EASU and ISV and continuous monitoring of the epizootic situation on the ground. Thanks to the step-by-step measures taken in recent years, certain improvements have been achieved in the field of veterinary medicine - reduction of such dangerous diseases as brucellosis, anthrax, pasteurellosis by 2.3 times compared to 2022, and by 28.5 per cent compared to 2023. The welfare status in the World Organisation for Animal Health was restored in five regions of Kazakhstan and restrictions on meat exports to Russia, PRC, Turkey, Belarus were lifted. In the Farm Animal Identification System (FAIS) modules (control of movement, slaughter of animals and meat quality up to the consumer) were created, the function of control over the issuance of quotas and export of animals in the Processing Centre (control over the issuance of individual animal numbers) was digitised. Further, it is planned to digitise import and export operations with subsequent traceability across the country, as well as to organise traceability on the principle of "producer - processing - market - consumer".

At the same time, the existing material and technical problems, low labour remuneration and qualification of veterinarians, and poor Internet coverage of veterinary facilities create serious barriers to building an effective veterinary system in the regions.

As Deputy Minister of Agriculture Amangaly Berdalin noted, currently 75 veterinary stations (36% of the total number) and 1607 veterinary points (77% of the total number) do not have separate buildings. More than 70 per cent of special equipment on the balance of veterinary stations and points is in unsatisfactory condition. For example, in Aksu village, Almaty region, where anthrax was recently detected, the veterinary station was located in one office of the building of the rural district akimat, although it served more than 25,500 animals.

"Given the large volume of work of a veterinarian - it is a farm rounds, inspection of animals, maintenance of HIS database, provision of public services, veterinary preventive and diagnostic tests and others, the salary of a veterinarian with higher education is 175 thousand tenge. Due to the lack of funds in the regions, veterinarians have no opportunity to improve their skills, which inevitably leads to errors in diagnosis, epizootic analysis and prediction of the epidemic situation in the region," Deputy Minister noted.

Timely diagnosis and quality laboratory tests are the second component of the epizootic well-being of the country. Today there are 167 veterinary laboratories and 21 sampling points in the country. Almost half of them require repair, 167 units of laboratory equipment are needed. All this is necessary to increase the level of biological and food security of the country. In addition, in Mangystau region and East Kazakhstan region, in connection with the growth of road freight traffic and through sea ports, strengthening control over food and biological safety at the border, design and estimate documentation for construction and repair of veterinary laboratories is being developed.

In order to strengthen local veterinary control, it is proposed, in addition to the existing veterinary departments in oblasts and cities of republican significance, to cascade the veterinary network to create relevant departments in district centres and cities of oblast significance. This will make it possible to strengthen control over the activities of veterinary and sanitary facilities in auls and villages (cattle burial grounds, slaughterhouses, veterinary stations, etc.).

#Agroindustrial complex #Serik Zhumangarin