Why the draft livestock and livestock products Bill was withdrawn

Source: The post is based on the article “Why the draft livestock and livestock products Bill was withdrawn” published in The Hindu on 22nd June 2023

What is the News?

The Centre has withdrawn the Draft Live-stock and Live-stock Products [Importation and Exportation] Bill, 2023.

What is the draft livestock and livestock products Bill?

The Bill is meant to replace the Live-stock Importation Act, 1898 and Live-stock (Amendment) Act, 2001.

The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD), which comes under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying has prepared the draft of the bill.

The Bill is different from the existing law in three key aspects: 1) It allows the export of live animals, 2) It widens the scope of animal import-export (including cats and dogs among ‘live stock’) and 3) It takes away state governments’ powers to regulate this area.’

What is the need for this bill?

The Live-stock Importation Act, 1898 regulates the import of livestock is a pre-constitutional/ pre-independence Central Act and is 125 years old. 

Hence, a need has been felt to align it with the contemporary requirements and prevailing circumstances related to sanitary and phytosanitary measures.

What are the key provisions of the proposed draft Bill?

Firstly, the earlier law regulates only imports of livestock, while the proposed draft Bill has provisions to regulate livestock exports also.

Secondly, the draft bill has expanded the definition of livestock to include felines and canines also.

Thirdly, the Centre has defined the live-stocks and live-stock products as commodities in the proposed draft Bill.

Fourthly, the proposed draft bill takes away some powers of state governments to regulate this area.

What are the criticisms faced by the bill?

Animal rights organizations have said that the draft Bill will open a “Pandora’s Box” of cruelties on animals.

This is because allowing the live export of animals from India is a blanket free pass for the abuse of millions of animals farmed for food and other uses.

According to 2021 figures released by the United Nations, almost 2 billion of the 80 billion land animals raised for food around the world are exported alive to different countries.