Regulation on policies for reporting aquatic animal diseases in Vietnam from December 12, 2024

Regulation on policies for reporting aquatic animal diseases in Vietnam from December 12, 2024 (Image from the Internet)

On October 24, 2024, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam issued Circular 12/2024/TT-BNNPTNT amending Circular 04/2016/TT-BNNPTNT on the prevention and control of aquatic animal diseases in Vietnam.

Regulation on policies for reporting aquatic animal diseases in Vietnam from December 12, 2024

To be specific: In Article 5 of Circular 04/2016/TT-BNNPTNT (amended in Circular 12/2024/TT-BNNPTNT), regulation on policies for reporting aquatic animal diseases in Vietnam from December 12, 2024, are as follows:

(1) Irregular disease outbreak reports:

(i) Farm owners, practicing veterinarians, aquaculture personnel, or those who detect aquatic animals that are sick, dying in large numbers or showing abnormal signs of illness, must report to commune-level veterinarians and the local People's Committee or the nearest specialized veterinary fisheries agency; through any of the following methods: by phone, in person, sending written documents, or emailing.

(ii) Commune-level veterinarians upon discovering or receiving notices as prescribed in (i) must report and implement regulations per clause 2, Article 19 of the Veterinary Law;

(iii) District-level specialized veterinary management agencies, upon receiving information as per (i) or (ii), must report and perform tasks following clause 3, Article 19 of the Veterinary Law;

(iv) Provincial-level specialized veterinary management agencies report the disease outbreak situation to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, regional Animal Health Sub-Department, and Veterinary Department;

(v) Regional Animal Health Sub-Department: Compiles and reports to the Veterinary Department on aquatic animal disease situations in local areas within the region;

(vi) The Veterinary Department reports to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development; and reports to international organizations of which Vietnam is a member or committed to implementing;

(vii) Reports on outbreaks or new diseases as per the provisions in (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v) must be carried out within 48 hours for communes in delta regions or 72 hours for communes in remote and far-flung areas, from the time of detection or receipt of information about aquatic animals showing illness signs.

(2) Updated reports on outbreak situations:

- Before 12:00 daily, commune-level veterinarians report to district-level specialized veterinary management agencies and local People's Committees on the outbreak situations that have been confirmed by district-level or provincial-level specialized veterinary management agencies;

- Before 16:00 daily, District-level specialized veterinary management agencies report to provincial-level agencies and district-level People's Committees;

- Before 15:00 every Friday, Provincial-level specialized veterinary management agencies compile and report on the week's disease developments to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, regional Animal Health Sub-Department, and Veterinary Department;

- Updated reports on outbreak situations are conducted until the end of the outbreak, including holidays and weekends.

- In cases where the outbreak exhibits unusual developments, rapid spread, or a significant increase in affected aquaculture areas within a day, provincial-level specialized veterinary management agencies must report to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Veterinary Department immediately upon receiving the report as prescribed.

(3) Reports on the closure of outbreaks: Within 07 days from the conclusion of the outbreak per legal regulations, Provincial-level specialized veterinary management agencies are responsible for summarizing outbreak data and evaluating the results of prevention and control efforts.

(4) Outbreak investigation reports:

- Outbreak investigation reports are applied when an outbreak has been identified by specialized veterinary management agencies as a disease in the List of diseases requiring epidemic declaration for aquatic animals or a new disease;

- Provincial-level specialized veterinary management agencies are responsible for reporting the results of outbreak investigations to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, regional Animal Health Sub-Department, and Veterinary Department immediately after concluding the outbreak investigation.

(5) New disease reports:

- During the disease verification process according to regulations, if a new disease is suspected, district-level specialized veterinary management agencies report immediately to provincial-level agencies for outbreak investigation, sample testing, and implementation of disease prevention measures;

- Provincial-level specialized veterinary management agencies are responsible for reporting immediately to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, regional Animal Health Sub-Department, and Veterinary Department, and organizing investigation and verification of information on suspected new disease outbreaks and sending samples to laboratories affiliated with the Veterinary Department for testing, identification of agents and causes;

- The Veterinary Department is responsible for guiding localities in investigating suspected new disease outbreaks, unknown causes and implementing preventive measures; if necessary, the Veterinary Department organizes testing, investigation to identify causative agents and new disease causes as prescribed in clause 6, Article 27 of the Veterinary Law and reports to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development on the developments of the disease situation.

(6) Reports on disease surveillance results:

- Provincial-level specialized veterinary management agencies report to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, regional Animal Health Sub-Department, and Veterinary Department on the results of surveillance, disease forecasts, and local pandemic control measures;

- The Veterinary Department reports to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development on surveillance results, disease forecasts, and pandemic control measures per regulations and upon request;

- The reporting time for monitoring disease results is within 03 days from the date the surveillance results become available.

(7) Reports from laboratories with activities in diagnosing, testing aquatic animal diseases:

(i) When discovering or suspecting agents causing diseases listed in the List of diseases requiring epidemic declaration, report immediately to the regional Animal Health Sub-Department and provincial-level specialized veterinary management agency where aquatic animals have contracted diseases;

(ii) Upon discovering or suspecting new infectious disease agents or diseases with undetermined causes, report immediately to the Veterinary Department and provincial-level specialized veterinary management agency to coordinate in researching, determining agents, and disease causes per regulations;

(iii) Monthly or irregularly report to the regional Animal Health Sub-Department and provincial-level specialized veterinary management agency the testing results for aquatic animal diseases as stipulated in (i), (ii), and other aquatic animal diseases in Vietnam.

More details can be found in Circular 12/2024/TT-BNNPTNT which comes into force in Vietnam from December 12, 2024.

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