Instructions regulating procedures and conditions for importing live animals.

These Instructions aim to regulate requirements and procedures to import live animals to Iraq and establish (i) it is necessary to submit an official request to the Ministry of Agriculture that includes 1. type and sex of the animal, the numbers to be imported, the weight, and whether it is for breeding or for slaughter; 2. country of origin; and 3. mode of transportation, date and point of shipment in the country of origin, poin of arrival, and the way from the country of origin to Iraq; (ii) requested documentation; (iii) certification to be presented at the border crossing, including certificate of origin, an international veterinary health certificate from the country of origin attesting the safety of animals from infectious and communicable diseases, septic diseases and mad cow disease, laboratory tests and preventive vaccinations performed on animals in the country of origin prior to shipment, and certificate that imported animals are free of radioactive materials approved in the exporting country, as well as a certificate of non-use of hormones and growth stimuli. Articles 2 and 3 list the tasks of the General Veterinary Company. The Instructions prohibit (i) import of discarded animals for any reason is prohibited (art.4); (ii) import of female and male buffaloes and sheep for breeding purposes if their genetic profile has not been locally completed; (iii) raising imported animals when symptoms of any of the communicable diseases appeared in the OIE guide even after their release from quarantine in whole or in part within (60) sixty days of their entry into Iraq. The Ministry of Agriculture (i) may assign its competent departments to assume direct supervision of imported animals; (ii) has the right to refuse the consignment if it violates any of the technical and health conditions and without compensation. Article 9 lists the preventive measures for imported animals. Live animals imported for slaughtering purposes are subject to veterinary quarantine for a period of 48 hours, while for breeding purposes the period is of from 21 to 30 days (art.12).