The following terms, wherever mentioned in this Law, shall have the meanings assigned to them unless the context requires otherwise:

• 1- Livestock: All types of animals, poultry, and domesticated birds.

• 2- Ministry: Ministry of Agriculture.

• 3- Minister: Minister of Agriculture.

• 4- Epidemic or infectious disease: Any of the epidemic or infectious diseases classified in lists (A, B) according to the classification of the World Organisation for Animal Health and any amendments thereto.

• 5- All related to livestock: Veterinarians and veterinary assistants, livestock owners, supervisors, caretakers, responsible individuals, and those working in research centers, institutes, and universities related to this field.

• 6- Regulation: Implementing Regulation of this Law.

The purpose of this Law is as follows:

• A- To protect the livestock in the Kingdom from epidemic and infectious diseases and the dangers resulting from environmental pollution.

• B- To ensure proper care, nutrition, and breeding of livestock and to treat them with kindness, avoiding exploitation or handling that may cause harm, danger, or cruelty to them.

• C- To establish the plans, measures, and procedures necessary to combat any infectious or epidemic disease that may affect livestock and the zoonotic diseases between them and humans, or other related dangers.

• D- To ensure the safety of local animal products and to verify their suitability.

The Ministry is responsible for the overall supervision of livestock care and health, working to protect it from all diseases, epidemics, and other dangers, developing plans and programs, and providing necessary preventive, therapeutic, and advisory veterinary services to achieve this, in cooperation with other relevant entities.

The relevant government entities and all those related to livestock or its products or by-products are obligated to cooperate with the Ministry, as follows:

• A- Provide any information or facilities that assist the Ministry in achieving the objectives of this Law.

• B- Implement the necessary measures and procedures to prevent diseases or environmental pollution that may affect livestock, in accordance with what is specified in the Regulation.

• C- Ensure the safety of animal products and verify their suitability and the absence of any harmful residues from growth promoters or veterinary medicines, in accordance with what is specified in the Regulation.

• D- Preserve and develop local breeds of livestock.

• E- Treat livestock kindly and provide the necessary nutrition and care for them.

The heads of the Saudi diplomatic missions accredited abroad shall notify the Ministry - through official channels and as quickly as possible - of any information available to them regarding diseases and epidemics affecting livestock in those countries.

The Ministry grants the necessary licenses for livestock projects and supervises them in accordance with the provisions set forth in the Regulation.

The Ministry grants the necessary licenses for veterinary clinics and laboratories, and supervises them in accordance with what is specified in the Regulation.

The Minister may, by Order, obligate livestock owners to do the following:

• A- Mandatory registration of all types of livestock or some of them.

• B- Vaccination of certain types of livestock using appropriate methods to protect them from diseases, according to the programs specified in the Regulation.

• C- Testing certain types of livestock for the diagnosis of infectious or epidemic diseases at a specified time or at regular intervals.

No individual or entity in the Kingdom may send any material or sample related to animal wealth outside the Kingdom for laboratory testing except after obtaining the approval of the Ministry.

Anyone related to livestock, upon suspicion of infection with any contagious or epidemic disease, must do the following:

• A- Isolate it in a separate place away from healthy livestock, and refrain from acting upon it or its products or coming into contact with it, whether alive, slaughtered, or dead.

• B- Notify the Ministry or its nearest branch immediately, and within a maximum period of twenty-four hours from the suspicion of the disease.