News
Now no licence required to import bovine, goat and swine semen
The Government has removed the import licence requirement for bovine, goat and swine semen on the request of large-scale dairy farmers and milk collectors.
The liberalisation of the sector will allow more widespread mixing of foreign genes with local cattle, goats and pigs. The focus is mainly on cattle with the objective of producing animals that yield high quantities of milk, said Dr Hemali Kothalawala, the DG of Animal Production and Health. She added that the proposal to lift the import licence requirement had not come from her office.
The import of semen is regulated under the Animal Diseases Act. Pre-clearance is still required from the Department of Animal Production and Health to ensure diseases don’t enter with the semen. It is only then that the packages will be released from quarantine and by customs.
“Dairy development is now one of the Government’s highest priority areas,” Dr Kothalawala said. “Our Department does produce local semen for breeding but the policy is to improve our domestic animals with imported genes to increase dairy yield.”
The request had come mostly from existing owners of large farms but there is also growing interest from potential investors into the sector. It is the first time the import licence requirement for semen has been removed in the decades since the practice of artificial insemination of livestock began in Sri Lanka, Dr Kothalawala said.
With the growth of the dairy industry, however, there is concern about the scarcity of grazing lands and the danger that forests may be razed to make room for more. The Department is therefore looking at cultivated improve varieties of grass.
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