Law No. HO-137-N “On veterinary medicine”.

This Law regulates the relations pertaining to the implementation and management of veterinary medicine. This Law shall apply to all entities participating in the relations existent in the field of veterinary medicine and to all persons practicing veterinary medicine. The scope of this Law shall be as follows: (a) protection of animal health and animal welfare; (b) prevention and eradication of outbreaks of animal diseases and contagious diseases common for animals and humans /zoonoses/, preservation of stable epizootic situation and safety; (c) production, processing, keeping, transportation, trade and(or) sales, import and export of animals, animal origin raw material and products; (d) production, keeping, transportation, trade and (or) sales, import and export of insemination supplies and veterinary medicinal products; (e) handling and storage of animal-origin by-products; (f) veterinary practice, veterinary education and science, laboratory activities, veterinary sanitary expertise; and (g) environmental protection against adverse effects emerging from activities in the field of veterinary medicine. Main principles and objectives of state policy in veterinary medicine are: (a) to ensure the enforcement of the legal acts on veterinary medicine, implementation of activities in the field of veterinary medicine aimed at the protection of humans health, prioritization of the protection of the environment and consumer rights; (b) to ensure cooperation and information exchange with relevant international and regional organizations; (c) to ensure introduction of international standards and requirements of animal health and animal welfare in the Republic of Armenia; and (d) to review the state policy based on scientifically justified assessment of risks conducted during scientifically justified risks assessment, consulting and risks management. Article 3 shall be amended to add the following wording: “Animal burial site with special underground wells (trenches) or bio-thermal wells (Bekar wells) shall be intended for long-term burial for non-slaughterable or undiagnosed diseased animals or animals that died as a result of an epidemic or in a state of agony or animal by-products not intended for consumption or subject to destruction equipped fenced plot of land”. Article 41.1. establishes that in case of violations of the requirements submitted to slaughterhouses within the framework of state control, the operation of the slaughterhouses is suspended until the violations are eliminated, if the detected violation is not eliminated during the inspection.