After a ban had been imposed earlier this year on imports of livestock from Kazakhstan, the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture announced the arrival of the first Kazakh sheep consignment at Al-Ahsa International Airport on Sunday, December 22, 2019.
The Director-General of Animal Risk Assessment, Dr. Sanad AlHarbi said that the shipment arriving from Kazakhstan was duly cleared by the animal and plant quarantine of the Ministry's office in Al-Ahsa Governorate as well as the animal and plant quarantine at Al-Ahsa International Airport.
The consignment includes more than 2,200 heads of sheep and goats of Kazakh-origin. Upon the arrival of the consignment, physical examination was immediately performed, the accompanying health certificates and the average weights were checked, blood samples were collected and sent to the lab for analysis in accordance with the mechanisms approved by the Ministry, he added.
According to AlHarbi, the laboratory tests confirmed that samples taken from the livestock proved that they are healthy and free from any disease, and that all quarantine procedures set out in the GCC Veterinary Quarantine Law and its executive regulations in the Kingdom were applied accordingly.
The consignment was sent to the importer's farm to complete the controls required for the environmental sustainability program including immunization, in accordance with the national Immunization program.