Animal Health Act No. 32 of 2013.

The present Act lays down provisions to: maintain health and safety of animal wealth; develop the livestock sector and upgrade its production, also as a food security tool; preserve the safety of products of animal origin; provide a healthful animal food for humans free of pathogens; and encourage investors in the livestock sector in support of the national economy. The Minister of Agriculture shall have charge of the carrying out of this Act by: developing plans and programs to combat diseases and epidemics; adopting the principle of compensation in support of animal breeders and producers; providing a suitable ground free of epidemic diseases that cause heavy losses in livestock; regulating slaughterhouses and activities related to livestock; organizing the relationship between the private veterinarian sector and veterinary health authority, finding a common ground to them; raising awareness and culture of breeders and citizens of the importance of livestock.
The Act consists of 57 articles divided in X Sectors, as follows: Definitions (I); Objectives and Means (II); Veterinary health checks at border crossing points (III) which deals with permits, veterinary health certificates, quarantine rules needed to cross the Iraqi border; Veterinary health checks approved in Iraq (IV); Health measures to control communicable and infectious diseases (V), that gives provisions for animal owners (also for pets) and breeders in case, or suspect, of an epidemic disease. Communicable and infectious diseases are listed at the end of this Act; Animal Husbandry (VI); Private health veterinarian activity (VII); Compensations (VIII), which specifies in which cases they can be paid; Sanctions (IX); and General and Final Provisions.