President Yoweri Museveni has signed three bills into law. The bills include; The Animal Feeds Act, 2023, The Veterinary Practitioners Act, 2023 and The National Records and Archives (Amendment) Act, 2024. The three bills were recently passed by Parliament and were awaiting President Museven’s assent.
The Animal Feeds Act, 2023 provides a legislative framework for the operationalization of the animal feeds policy by regulating the production, importation, exportation and marking of animal feeds and establishing the animal feeds committee to regulate the production, importation, exportation and marking of animal feeds.
While tabling the bill before Parliament on Wednesday 25 October 2023, the Minister for Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Frank Tumwebaze, said: “Inadequate animal nutrition was identified as one of the factors that limit Uganda’s production of livestock products.”
He added that Animal feeds account for 70 percent of the production costs and therefore have a significant effect on production costs and the profits.
The Animal Feeds Act also provides for the application for the registration of premises and the circumstances under which a certificate of registration may be suspended or revoked.
Similarly, the Act will see the establishment of offices for animal feeds inspectors and animal feeds analysts. The animal feeds inspector shall inspect premises and seize any animal feeds that are produced contrary to the requirements of the Act.
Furthermore, the Act gives the Minister powers to make regulations, under the Act to provide for the procedures and forms to be used, for the application for registration of premises and licenses for the production, storage, transportation, or sale of animal feeds and for the fees paid under the Act.
According to the minister, productivity of livestock in Uganda is low due to the prevalence of animal diseases, inadequate nutrition for the animals, scarcity of water in the semi-arid areas, lack of facilities for the storage and processing of animal feeds, the lack of laboratory facilities and the lack of information, knowledge and skills on animal feeds production amongst other factors.
The law imposes a penalty of 7years for anyone found guilty of selling or producing adulterated animal feeds.
The Veterinary Practitioners Act 2023, giving a blanket opportunity to all veterinary practitioners from the East African Community region to register for practice in Uganda, while providing stringent requirements for those outside the bloc.
Parliament’s Agriculture Committee had protested the proposal arguing that the blanket recognition of veterinary practitioners from East African partner states will disadvantage veterinary practitioners from Uganda since the mutual recognition agreement to allow veterinary practitioners from East African member states to practice across borders is not yet in force, and instead recommended that Uganda should prioritize employment in veterinary practice for its nationals.
