Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment - Agriculture


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VETERINARY SERVICES DEPARTMENT

The Veterinary Services are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment and are operating in two administrative levels. The Central Level and a Regional Level.

The Central Administrative Level is organized in two Divisions, the Animal Health and Welfare Division and the Veterinary Public Health Division, the Veterinary Laboratories Sector and the Veterinary Medicinal Products Sector.

Animal Health and Welfare Division (AHWD)

Prevention and Control of Animal Diseases Programs

The AHWD competencies include the Identification and Recording of all animal population, the Prevention and Control of Animal Diseases, the Animal Welfare, the Intra-EC Trade and the imports from third countries.

All the Bovine, Ovine and Caprine animals have been ear tagged and within the framework of the Dog’s Law all dogs are micro chipped for identification and also pig’s identification has commenced.

Programs for the prevention, control and elimination programs are in place for Bovine, Ovine and Caprine Brucellosis, Tuberculosis, Blue Tongue and Scrapie.

With the EU Decision 320/2004/EK Cyprus was given the Officially Free Status for the Bovine Enzootic Leucosis and Aujesky’s of Pigs. Cyprus aims to obtain the Officially Free Status for Tuberculosis, the Brucellosis of Pigs and Infectious Agalaxia of Sheep and Goats.

Animal Welfare

Prior accession into the EU Cyprus has adopted and applied the relative Community acquis concerning animal welfare. After training meetings with the interested institutions the animal holdings, shelters, transportation and distribution vehicles, tutors, animal instructors and exhibition spaces were inspected and approved. Within the framework of guaranteeing the observation of the Animal welfare rules the relative controls and inspections are held in regular time intervals and all charges for mistreatment/or neglect of care for the animals are examined. Where shortcomings are observed recommendations for remedy, within a justifiable time period, are given. Where the improvements are not applied the violators are denounced in the police.

Intra-EC Trade and Imports from third countries

Effective 01/01/2005 the application of the Community Trade Control Expert System came into force (TRACES).

The two Veterinary Border Inspection Posts Controls (BIP’s) at the Larnaka International Airport and Lemesos Harbour function within the framework of our obligations towards the EU and in combination with the application of TRACES. Concurrently each District Veterinary Station checks from veterinary perspective and informs the TRACES system for the commercial consignments, dispatched by organisms and enterprises which function within the area of their responsibility, which will be dispatched to EU member countries or via EU member states to third countries.

VETERINARY PUBLIC HEALTH DIVISION

The Veterinary Public Health Division has the exclusive competence for the control of production, handling, transport, storage and disposal in the market of products of animal origin with the exception of ice cream and honey as well as the control and the approval of installations where these are produced.

Moreover the Division deals with the control of intra-EC trade, the publication of certificates of animal origin products’ exportation to third countries and the application of residues follow-up program.

Briefly the activities of Sector are as follows:

Exclusive competence for the control of production, handling of transport, storage and disposal in the market of the following products:

Red meat
White meat
Minced meat
Wild and farmed game
Live Bivalves clams
Snails
Frog legs

Also the Division checks the production, treatment, transport, storage and disposal in the market of the following products:

Piscatorial products
Milk and dairy products
Meat based products (Sausages, Delicatessen)
Meat preparations
Comestible by-products of slaughterhouse
Egg Products

The control of production handling, treatment, storage and disposal in the market Installations, is performed according to the relative legislation and the respective regulations. They installations checked are:

Red meat Slaughterhouses
Poultry Slaughterhouses
Wild and farm raised game Slaughterhouses
Red meat cutting plants
White meat cutting plants
Meat preparations establishments
Meat products plants
Installations of comestible by-products
Production of products with small proportion of meat
Installations of piscatorial products
Cooling Booths
Cow sheds, Pens, Dairies
Control of animal waste
Butcheries

Division of Veterinary Pharmaceutical Products

The Divisions’ main competencies based on the Veterinary Pharmaceutical products Council decisions and the EU Directive 2001/82/EK are the quality control, the production, the registration, the circulation, the distribution and the use of veterinary pharmaceutical products.
The sector is comprised of:

1 The sector of management of the veterinary medicines folders, evaluation of pharmaceutical products, distribution and authorizations of circulation and observation of registration.
2. The Pharmacovigilance Sector.
3. The Legislative Management Sector
4. The control and inspection of the production and circulation of veterinary pharmaceutical products and their equitable use sector.
5. The supply and distribution of Veterinary Pharmaceutical Products Sector.

Furthermore officers of the sector participate actively in meetings of delegates of the European Union with regard to the subjects of approval of authorization of circulation within the framework of a Central and Reciprocal Pharmaco vigilance and Inspection process.

Through the proper use of pharmaceutical products, particularly in the productive animals it aims the minimization of residues presence in the foods of animal origin thus safeguarding Public Health.

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