Parliamentary committee approves revision to livestock disease law

By Shim Sun-ah
SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Yonhap) -- A parliamentary committee on Wednesday endorsed an
amendment to a livestock disease prevention law that would tighten the nation's
border quarantine on travelers returning from countries hit by foot-and-mouth
disease or other animal epidemics, committee officials said.
The move comes as the country has been suffering since late November from the
rapid nationwide spread of the highly contagious animal disease, which has so far
resulted in the culling of about 1.41 million heads of cattle, pigs, goats and
deer with damage estimated to reach around 1.4 trillion won (US$1.2 billion).
The amendment approved by the legislative committee on food, agriculture,
forestry and fisheries will be put to a plenary vote during the one-day main
session scheduled for Thursday, according to the officials.
It mandated that livestock farmers and their parties are to receive questioning,
tests and disinfection from the local health authorities upon arriving in South
Korea from foreign countries where outbreaks of animal epidemics have been
reported.
Those who are responsible for spreading the animal disease to South Korea after
refusing to report their entry or take preventive measures required by the health
authorities will face up to one year in prison or a 5 million won (US$4,468)
fine, the committee said. Farmers who violate the law also may not receive the
full amount of government compensation for their culled animals.
To hire foreign workers, farmers have to report to the local authorities in their
residing areas, according to the committee.
The amendment also requires the state to take up the entire cost of disinfection,
quarantine and culling activities in regions contaminated with livestock
epidemics and their neighboring areas.
It did not, however, reflect the opposition's demand to declare areas hit by the
highly contagious disease as special disaster areas, which would make them
eligible for state relief funds.
sshim@yna.co.kr
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