Animal Market Regulations: Some Immediate Concerns
D Dhanuraj
and Rahul V Kumar*
India is
predominantly an agrarian economy with a large section of its population
depending on the sector for their livelihood. Cattle form a vital part of
agriculture and allied activities. Various estimates suggest that India has a
large bovine population with approximately 303 million cattle and water buffaloes
alone. More than 60 million small and marginal farmers own a major part of
these animals, which directly aid agriculture and form an essential part of the
dairy and meat industry. The meat producing industry depends mostly on the
unorganised sector for sourcing the products. This unorganised sector includes
animal markets as well as slaughter houses. Estimates put the number of
slaughter houses in the unorganised sector in India at 25000. The meat industry
in India is estimated at approximately $15000 million. Various departments
under the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Commerce regulate the functioning
of these markets.
It is in the
context of these huge business prospects in the meat industry in India that the
‘Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017’
needs to be examined. The new regulatory framework attempts to regulate animal
markets by introducing a set of rules restricting the sale of animals in these
markets. Animal market in India is largely in the form of an open market with
little formal controls. The rule provides a loose definition of a market to
accommodate this informality. Accordingly, an animal market is defined as, “… a
market place or sale-yard or any other premises or place to which animals are
brought from other places and exposed for sale or auction and includes any
lairage ... slaughter house ... and any place adjoining a market ... parking
areas by visitors to the market ... animal fair and cattle pound where animals
are offered or displayed for sale or auction.”
As such, the
new regulations on animal markets could be a crucial step in formalising the
markets and making efficient allocations within a formal structure. This could be
considered as a novel initiative to reform the animal markets. However, we need
to probe more into the functioning of such markets to understand the effect of
the new rule on business transactions. An efficient market should be allowed to
function freely with broad rules to ensure effective transactions between
buyers and sellers. In the least, entry and exit from these markets should be
convenient and prices tending towards competitive levels.
The
Regulation of Livestock Markets Rules, 2017, is likely to create more hurdles
towards a competitive market structure and bring in undue controls disrupting
the existing animal markets. For instance, the rule constitutes the creation of
a new bureaucratic framework called the Animal
Market Monitoring Committee, which will make it difficult for poor farmers to
sell animals in these markets. A major hurdle is that such animals cannot be
sold in the markets for the purpose of slaughter. Selling of cattle between the
states is also restricted. Proof of sales (five copies to be maintained by not
only the buyer and seller but also the local government officials, Chief
Veterinary Officer and Animal Market Monitoring Committee) as well as documents
to prove farmland ownership rights will be monitored by the authorities under
the Animal Market Monitoring Committee for each sale of animals. These
restrictions and documents make it extremely difficult for the small and
marginal farmers to dispose of their old cattle stock to the meat producers
through animal markets. This, in turn, is likely to affect not only the
livelihood of these farmers but also the large meat export industry in India.
In India, multiple
laws govern animal trade and various agencies monitor the trade at different
levels. Since the State Governments have a major say in the matter, animal
traders have to deal with the Central, State and Local Government legalisations.
While each State Government has defined its own rules, governmental departments
including health, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI),
Pollution Control Board, Police etc monitor the trade. What matters the most are
the rules and regulations that restrict opportunities for small and medium
enterprises. It is easy to find fault with them, as they may not have the wherewithal
to oblige to conform to the technical requirements that the law stipulates. In
a way, these issues are similar to the challenges faced by street vendors. There
is a need to study the matter carefully so that the smaller players could also
make a decent living doing a decent job. These rules seem to be restricting
them from trade and increasing opportunities to harass them.
D Dhanuraj is Chairman of Centre for Public Policy Research and Rahul V Kumar is Research Consultant at Centre for Public Policy Research. Views expressed by the authors are personal and does not represent of CPPR
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