Improvement of Agricultural Production Regulations (Livestock) (Dairy Cows)

Improvement of Agricultural Production Regulations (Livestock) (Dairy Cows) (Temporary Provisions), 2001 By the power vested in me under Section 3 of the Improvement of Agricultural Production Law (Livestock), 1952 (hereafter - "the Law") and Section 22 of the Animal Diseases Ordinance (New Version), 1985 (hereafter - "the Ordinance"), after consulting an advisory statutory committee, with the approval of the Economic Committee of the Knesset, according to Section 48(a) of Basic Law: Government, and according to Section 2(b) of the Penal Code, 1977 - I hereby enact the following Regulations: 1. Temporary Provisions: Notwithstanding Regulations 21-23 of the Improvement of Agricultural Production Law (Livestock) (Dairy Cows), 1957 (hereafter - "the Improvement Regulations") - the provisions of these Regulations shall apply for a period of two years commencing from the day of their coming into effect. 2. Definitions: "Plant Owner" (1) Any person granted a permission to operate a Plant as prescribed in Section 5; (2) Any person under whose supervision, control or direction the Plant operates; (3) A registered owner or possessor of the Plant; "The Director" - The Director of the Veterinary Services; "Guidelines" - The guidelines issued by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) in 1999 regarding artificial insemination centres and cattle insemination, which are updated periodically and available for the general public in the Library of the Veterinary Institute of the Veterinary Services and Animal Health in Bet Dagan; "Semen" - Bovine semen; "Inseminator " - A person permitted by the Director to perform artificial insemination in dairy cattle; "Plant" - A business engaged in artificial insemination and in the storage, marketing and distribution of semen; "Semen Production Centre" - A place where semen is being produced from bulls; "The Herdbook" - The herdbook managed by the Israel Cattle Breeders association - Central Agricultural Collective Association Ltd. 3. Import, Distribution, Storage and Marketing of Semen and Insemination: (a) A person shall not import semen that was produced out of Israel unless all the following conditions apply: (1) He is the owner of the Plant; (2) The semen has been produced according to the Guidelines, imported with a permit as prescribed in Section 2(a) of the Animal Diseases Regulations (Import of Animals), 1974, and is in accordance with its conditions. (b) A person shall not operate a Plant unless authorised to do so by the Director, as prescribed in Section 5 (hereafter - "the Plant's permit"). (c) A person shall not market, deliver, pass or store semen, nor distribute it and perform artificial insemination, unless the following conditions apply: (1) The semen has been imported in accordance to Sub-section (a) or was produced in an Artificial Insemination Centre, as defined in the Improvement Regulations. (2) He complies with these Regulations. 4. Application for a Plant's Permit: An application for the Plant’s permit shall be submitted to the Director, in accordance with the form in the Schedule. 5. (a) The Director shall grant a plant a permit if he is assured that the Plant is committed to comply with the following: (1) The semen is stored, marketed and distributed as prescribed in Sub-section 3(c)(1), and is marked with marks indicating its origin, the name and the number of the bull in the Herdbook, the name of the semen Production Centre in which it was produced and the production date; (2) The semen is stored in accordance with the Director's instructions; (3) To perform artificial insemination and to employ, for that purpose, inseminators. (b) The permit will be valid for one year from the day of its granting. 6. Revoking a Permit: (a) Should the Director observe that the conditions specified in Sections 5 or 7 no longer exist in the Plant, he is entitled to inform the Plant's owner in writing that the permit is revoked or suspended. (b) The Director shall use his authority as described in Sub-section (a) only after giving the Plant's owner the opportunity to present his arguments against the revoking or the suspension., orally and in writing. 7. Recordings: (a) A Plant's owner shall manage, using the forms provided by the Director, a full and accurate recording of semen in the Plant and artificial insemination performed, specifying the following: (1) In the matter of the semen (a) The name of the Semen Production Centre in which the semen has been produced as well as the date of production; (b) The name of the bull from which the semen was taken and its number in the Herdbook; (c) The date of its freezing and the number of the container and the cell in which it was stored; (d) In the case of imported semen - the date of import as well as details of the import license. (2) In the matter of the artificial insemination - a list of the performed inseminations, classified according to: (a) The name of the farm in which the insemination took place; (b) The name and number of the semen’s bull; (c) The name and number of the inseminated cow, and its lactation number; for this matter, lactation shall mean - the time between two consecutive calvings; (d) The date in which the insemination took place; (e) The name of the inseminator and the number of permit given to him by the Director. (b) The Director is entitled to demand the recording of any further information or its alteration. (c) Recordings according to this Section shall be kept by the owner of the Plant for 7 years, commencing from the day of their initial registration, and will be handed over to the Director, by his request, or to whom he directs. 8. Bulls' Characteristics: The owner of a Plant shall send to the farms buying semen from him, the list of bulls from which the semen, distributed by him, had been derived; the list will specify the characteristics of the bulls as identified in the "Interbull Publications" and their number in the Herdbook; for this matter, the "Interbull Publications" shall mean the quarterly publication of the "International Bull Evaluation Service A subcommittee of the International Committee for Animal Recording", available for the general public in the Library of the Veterinary Institute of the Veterinary Service and Animal Health in Bet Dagan. 9. Permit to the Inseminator: (a) A person shall not be engaged in artificial insemination, except in his own farm, unless a permit to do so (hereafter - "permit to the inseminator") has been received from the Director, and is in accordance with the conditions set by the Director in the permit; (b) The Director shall grant a permit to the inseminator only when satisfied that the applicant has received a sufficient training allowing him to perform artificial insemination in cattle, and successfully passed an examination approved by the Director. 10. Artificial insemination: (a) An inseminator shall not use semen unless it has been received from a Plant, and shall not carry out the insemination unless in the name of the Plant; (b) The inseminator shall keep an accurate and full daily record of the inseminations carried out by him, in a form indicated by the Director, and shall submit a copy of the form to the owner of the Plant from which he had obtained the semen. 11. Insemination by a Herd's Owner of his Cattle: A herd owner is entitled to perform an insemination in his herd, provided the following conditions are fulfilled: (1) The semen is a semen as specified in Sub-section 3(c)(1); (2) The Owner of the herd keeps, using forms indicated by the Director, a full and accurate record of the inseminations performed in the herd, classified as instructed in Sub-section 7(a)(2) (a)-(d); however, the Director is entitled to ask for additional or other recordings. (3) The owner of the herd shall submit, within two months from the date of the insemination, a copy of the aforementioned forms in Sub-section (2) to the Plant from which the semen has been purchased, and shall keep the original documents, as prescribed in Subsection 7(c). Schedule (Section 4) The Director The Veterinary Services PO Box 12 Bet Dagan 50250 Date: Application for a Plant's Permit According to Section 4 of the Improvement of Agricultural Production Regulations (Livestock) (Dairy Cows) (Temporary Provision), 2001 1. Name of the applicant: ID or business reg. No Address 2. Name of the Plant applying for the permit and its address: 3. Details concerning the Plant: Signature If the applicant is a corporation, a statement of an accountant or an attorney regarding the signature rights should be attached as well. 28.1.2001 Ehud Barak Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development