Press Release

The Legislative Drafting Committee Discusses Updating Animal Health Legislation

02 December 2024

Over two consecutive meetings for FAO, MOA and MOH, WG Committee addresses legislative overlaps between Public Health and Animal Health Law

Baghdad, Iraq, 2 December 2024: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Iraq and the Iraqi Ministries of Agriculture and Health held two meetings dedicated to discussing updating animal health legislation to be in line with international reference standards, as well as to address legislative overlaps between the Public Health Law and the Animal Health Law.

During the third in-person meeting of the Legislative Drafting Committee for Animal Health Law in Iraq, FAO in Iraq, in cooperation with the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), and in coordination with the Legislative Drafting Committee reviewed the regulatory framework governing animal health in Iraq and align it with international standards and best practices.

The committee comprises members from the Ministries of Agriculture, Environment, Health, and Agriculture & Water Resources and representatives of the Kurdistan government, in addition to members from the Veterinary Syndicate, the Border Ports Authority, the Council of State, and the Parliamentary Committee for Agriculture, Water Resources and Marshlands Affairs.

This meeting falls within the framework of the ongoing series of meetings of the Committee, which aim to discuss specialized topics related to the alignment of the legislative framework with international standards and best practices as documented by the World Organization for Animal Health and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. This specific meeting focused on topics related to the private veterinary medical sector and animal markets.

It is worth noting that this national consultative process for legal review is the first of its kind. It is based on the successful completion of the first phase of the program, where the Iraqi government adopted recommendations for major legislative improvements to resolve overlaps in combating animal diseases.

In a parallel context, during the second meeting of the Joint Working Committee between the Ministries of Agriculture and Health, the legislative overlaps between Public Health Law No. 89 of 1981 and Animal Health Law No. 32 of 2013 were also discussed. A table of articles containing legislative overlaps was prepared by the legal team of the project with members of the Committee formed by Ministerial Order No. 27423 on 6/26/2024. During this meeting, the door was opened for dialogue between the committee members to discuss the agenda and clarify the operational methods taken in addressing the legislative overlaps between the Public Health and Animal Health Laws on the ground, and to develop proposed framework for sorting out this overlap. 

These meetings come within the framework of the project "Strengthening Veterinary Legislation in Iraq and Expanding the Scope of Providing Animal Health Services and Disease Surveillance", funded by the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), which aims to strengthen animal disease surveillance systems in Iraq.

Dr. Salah Al-Hajj Hassan, FAO Representative in Iraq, inaugurated the two meetings, stressing the importance of working to develop the Iraqi legislative framework regarding animal health and veterinary services and its relationship to achieving food security in Iraq in general. He also stressed FAO's commitment to providing support for updating legislation of animal health laws to comply with international standards followed by the World Organization. He also stressed the importance of the Kurdistan Regional Government's participation in this very important endeavor.

Mohamed Ali Moussa

FAO
Communications Specialist
Salah Elhajjhassan

Salah Elhajjhassan

FAO
Representative
Mr Hajj Hassan, a national of Lebanon, holds a Ph.D. in Plant Production from the University of Agriculture, Damascus, Syria; a Master of Science degree in Plant Production and a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Engineering, both from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon.
He started his career in 1984, as Senior Research Assistant in the Agricultural Research and Education Centre (AREC), American University of Beirut. From 1987 to 1991, he was Coordinator of the Student Training Programme, and also Agriculture and Horticultural Teacher for the Faculty of Agriculture, at the Lebanese University.
From 1991 to 1995, he worked as Agricultural Engineer at the Ministry of Agriculture, Bekaa Regional Office, Zahlah and was then assigned to the Agricultural Research Institute in the Tal Amara station, first as Head of the Crop Production Department and subsequently in charge of the Plant Protection Laboratory. From 2002 to 2006, he was Director of the Kfardane Research Station (Agricultural Research Institute). In 2008, he became Visiting Scientist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) and Coordinator of a project with the International Centre for Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna.
In 2010, he served as Advisor to the Minister for Agriculture of Lebanon. In 2011, he became President of the Pesticide Scientific Committee, Head of the Phytoplasma Committee and Director of the Agriculture and Rural Development Programme (ARDP) (EU-funded project). From 2010 to 2013, he represented Lebanon in negotiations with EU, Egypt, Jordan and Iraq. During his career, Mr Hajj Hassan also carried out a number of other functions. He represented the Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute (LARI) in several research programmes with the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) and the American University of Beirut. He was Coordinator of the Mashreq/Maghreb project with ICARDA, representing Lebanon in the Steering Committee, as well as being the Head of the Sugar-beet Delivery and of the Wheat Delivery Committees. For a number of years, Mr Hajj Hassan worked for the preparation of FAO TCP projects and served as the National Director of a TCP project. He joined FAO in January 2014 as FAO Representative in Yemen. Mr Hajj Hassan succeeds Mr El Zubi as FAO Representative in Iraq.

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