The livestock sector has received special attention from public authorities for decades. Indeed, it has been the subject of many sectoral plans (dairy plan, red meat plan, and since 2008 of the strategy of the Plan Maroc Vert) with a view to improving animal production, meeting the growing needs of the consumer and increasing its competitiveness.
In view of the various changes that have occurred in the development of this sector over the years, The safety of the livestock population has always been a major concern of the national veterinary services in view of the economic and/or hygienic importance of animal diseases.
In this context, considerable efforts have been made by these services with a fundamental aim of guaranteeing the national animal heritage a very satisfactory sanitary environment in order to improve its production, to ensure its health security and to contribute to consumer protection.
To achieve this objective, animal health actions focus on:
– control and eradication of the main contagious animal diseases and/or having a considerable economic impact;
– the preservation of the country’s status free from exotic diseases;
– Continuous animal health monitoring and early detection of any animal disease affecting animal production;
– Identification and traceability of livestock;
– Health upgrading of farms (poultry, cattle, etc.).
– The control and health certification on the import and export of live animals and animal multiplication products;
– The application of animal health measures in accordance with the regulations in force.
However, in view of the importance of animal diseases and their negative impacts on the development of animal husbandry as well as the imperatives imposed by the new modes of husbandry management, the establishment of various plans for the intensification of animal production within the framework of sectoral plans, globalization and the globalization of trade, the emergence of new contagious animal diseases, it was necessary to accompany this development by the implementation of several measures, including the privatization of veterinary medicine, the development of a network of veterinary diagnostic laboratories, the local production of veterinary vaccines, the control of veterinary medicinal products, the strengthening of the national epidemic system for major animal diseases and the adoption of the quality approach
These various actions have contributed to the improvement of the health environment of the national herd, in particular for animal diseases of an epizootic nature, the mastery of disease diagnosis techniques and regular and close surveillance of the health status of the herd, which has enabled the national veterinary services on many occasions, demonstrate their effectiveness in terms of the rapid response and mobilization to several animal diseases affecting the national herd.