Bill to establish bovine breeding regulatory authority passed

Gandhinagar: The Gujarat assembly on Friday passed the Gujarat Bovine Breeding (Regulation) Bill, which provides for the constitution of the Gujarat Bovine Breeding Regulatory Authority (GBBRA). This body will regulate bovine breeding activities such as the use of bovine breeding bulls for production, processing, storage, sale, and distribution of semen, as well as artificial insemination and assisted reproductive technologies for bovines.
"Bovine" has been defined in the bill as a cow, cow-bull, cow-heifer, buffalo, buffalo-bull, and buffalo-heifer. "Bovine breeding activities" refer to breeding activities in bovines that include the use of bovine bulls, production, storage, transportation, and use of frozen semen, embryos, and oocytes, or the use of reproductive organs.
Bovine breeding and related activities will now have to be registered with the GBBRA. According to the provisions of the bill, every semen bank will be required to register with the authority within six months from the date of commencement of the Act. Artificial insemination service providers and their technicians, registered or accredited under the Central govt Act, will be required to be registered with the authority within six months of its enactment.
Persons who intend to keep male bovines for breeding by natural service, either for their herd or for making the service available to other farmers' bovines, will also be required to register the male bovine with the officer identified by the authority, according to the provisions of the bill.
The director of the animal husbandry department will be the chairperson of the GBBRA, while the CEO of the Gujarat Livestock Development Board will be the vice-chairperson of the authority. The other three members of the authority will be the deputy secretary of the animal husbandry department, a member from Kamdhenu University, and the joint director of the Intensive Cattle Development Programme.