Centre bans sale of cattle for slaughter, places restrictions on trade

The government on Friday banned the sale of cattle for the purpose of slaughter at animal markets on Thursday in turn creating a difficult situation for farmers and the meat and leather industry.

The amendment passed by Environment Ministry applies to all states except Jammu and Kashmir, and defines cattle as cows, bulls, bullocks, buffaloes, steers, heifers, calves, and camels. The gazette notification called Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules was issued under the original Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act of 1960.

What does the order mean?

The mandate entails that cattle can only be sold for agricultural purposes. It prohibits cattle slaughter for religious purposes after purchase from the market. Besides, buyers can not resell cattle within six months of purchasing. To ensure this, market committee would be keeping vigil by recording details of the buyers at the time of sales.

The buyer has to furnish five copies of proof of sale — three of them to the animal market committee, local revenue office and local veterinary doctor, and one each for buyer and seller.

The act also mandates registration of all animal markets with the District Animal Market Monitoring Committee within next three months.

Who are the affected parties?

It is bad news for the meat market as India is one of the world’s largest exporters of buffalo meat. The new rule may contradict with India’s Foreign Trade Policy that says exporters of buffalo meat have to get their consignments certified as comprising meat only from buffaloes unfit for mulching and breeding.

In testing times such as droughts, farmers are forced to sell livestock to feed their families and pay off debts. The new law poses another problem for such farmers who have ageing and unproductive cattle. They turn to slaughterhouses and leather markets for sale of unproductive livestock.

The regulation also directly affects almost one third of India’s population who are cattle meat eaters.

Watch: Why Meat Matters To The Indian Economy