LAHORE: The Punjab Livestock Minister Ibrahim Hasan Murad said here on Friday that the Livestock Department should involve the private sector in the production of FMD vaccine on a large scale to meet the needed quantity.

Verification should be done at the international level so that the vaccine could be contracted with the best companies in the market.

He said that due to the wrong policies of the past, Punjab was losing 06 to 08 billion dollars in terms of milk and meat.

These views were expressed by the minister while chairing the meeting in the Livestock Department. Additional Secretary Technical Dr. Asif Suleman, Director General Research and other relevant officials were present on this occasion.

It was decided in the meeting that the Department of Livestock would take a step forward in the FMD controlled program to level three and create an FMD controlled compartment so that dairy and meat trade in the GCC and level three countries could be scaled up. Besides it, the Department of Livestock would work for the formulation of a National FMD Controlled Program with the prior approval of the Federal Government.

The Livestock Minister directed the Department of Livestock to legalize the framework for third-party validation and testing of indigenously developed FMD vaccines and review the suspension culture plant project at UVAS.

A committee should be formed under the chairmanship of the provincial minister to review the large-scale losses of the government. The provincial minister further said that a 1-year fellowship program for post graduation/PhD scholars should be started at FMD for various research projects while the Department of Livestock for revenue generation related to sale of specimens to private companies will legalize the framework.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023