A household farm in HCMC's Cu Chi District
Lately, AHVA has petitioned the Prime Minister to merge the Department of Livestock Production and the Department of Animal Health under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development into one unit saying that domestic livestock production is facing many difficulties, most livestock households and small and medium-sized enterprises are unprofitable, facing the risk of mass bankruptcy when input prices especially grain and animal feed continue to rise.
According to the association, diseases have still developed complicatedly especially dangerous infectious diseases such as African swine fever, avian influenza, and skin rash on cattle. Imports of livestock products are increasing, including frozen products temporarily imported for re-export which has put a lot of pressure on the market for domestic livestock products.
Prices for livestock products have generally declined more than prices for food or feed grains Moreover, The output prices of livestock products have decreased, or gone up and down erratically with potential risks.
In addition, the cost of veterinary medicine in livestock in Vietnam always accounts for over 10 percent of the cost of livestock products, while other countries in the world account for only about 3 percent to 5 percent. Manual slaughter still accounts for 80 percent.
Currently, more than 24 countries are eligible to export all kinds of meat to Vietnam, but Vietnam has only been granted the conditions to export heat-treated chicken and suckling pork for four countries and territories.
This is a reasonable proposal in the current difficult context, in line with the requirements of streamlining the focal point and administrative staff. Not only in the case of the Department of Livestock Production and the Department of Animal Health, many argue that some units have similar or inseparable roles and functions. For example, the Crop Production Department and the Plant Protection Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development also need to soon be merged and rearranged to streamline the machinery, reduce administrative procedures, and avoid overlap.
Because veterinary medicine and plant protection are technical measures that cannot be separated from the process of taking care of livestock and cultivating crops. Most countries in the world have only one management agency specializing in animal husbandry, veterinary medicine, cultivation, and plant protection.
At the local level, it has also been merged into the sub-departments of animal husbandry and veterinary medicine, and the sub-department of cultivation and plant protection. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has undertaken a pilot model when he was Secretary of the Party Committee in the Northern Province of Quang Ninh.
