Livestock Act Enforcement Decree Legislative Notice
New Breeding Facilities Must Obtain Building Permits or Reports
Breeding Allowed in Existing Temporary Structures
The government is pushing for a plan that requires new poultry farming facilities, such as those for chickens and ducks, to obtain building permits or submit building notifications. Last year, there was an attempt to revise the related enforcement decree to allow only general buildings for poultry farming after five years, including existing temporary structures like vinyl greenhouses, but due to backlash over excessive regulation, the scope has been limited to new farming facilities and is being re-pursued.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on the 23rd, the amendment to the Livestock Act enforcement decree containing these details was publicly announced on the 17th. The ministry plans to collect opinions from institutions, individuals, and other stakeholders until the 26th of next month, then proceed through the State Council, aiming for promulgation and enforcement as early as June this year.
The reason the government is strengthening requirements for poultry farming facilities is due to concerns that "poor livestock rearing environments are causes of livestock diseases and risks to livestock product safety." The ministry explained that from 2003 to April 2022, there were nine outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI), resulting in the culling of approximately 129 million birds and direct damages amounting to about 1.4 trillion won.
Accordingly, the government intends to strengthen the permit and registration requirements for new livestock farming and animal husbandry businesses under the Livestock Act enforcement decree. For breeding chicken and duck farms as well as chicken and duck farming businesses, the key point is that farming facilities must obtain building permits or submit building notifications according to the Building Act. For chickens and ducks, facilities with an area of 10 to 50 square meters require registration, and those exceeding that must obtain a permit. Upon amendment of the enforcement decree, new farming will only be possible with farming facilities that are general buildings rather than temporary structures like vinyl greenhouses. For chicken and duck coops, the Ministry estimates that while vinyl greenhouses require construction costs of 91,000 won per square meter, building sealed windowless coops as general buildings will incur an additional cost of 302,000 won per square meter.
As of the end of last year, out of 25,021 chicken farming facilities, 7,681 (30.7%) are temporary structures. For ducks, 65.3% of the total 5,959 facilities are temporary structures. If the strengthened facility requirements were mandated for existing facilities as well, it would inevitably cause a significant burden. Therefore, the ministry decided to maintain existing temporary farming facilities as they are and only strengthen requirements for new farming facilities. According to the ministry, annually, 361 new chicken coops are built, of which 62 are temporary structures, and for duck coops, 64.3 are built annually, with 37.3 being temporary structures.
An official from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs stated, "Social demands for managing livestock environments continue to increase, and as social and economic damages caused by livestock diseases persist, there is a growing need to strengthen farm-level quarantine and environmental management. With this amendment to the enforcement decree, we will enhance proper livestock rearing and environmental management at livestock farms while laying the foundation for sustainable livestock farming."
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