PREVENTION OF DISEASE AMONGST ANIMALS  [ S.L.36.20 1
SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 36.20
PREVENTION OF DISEASE AMONGST ANIMALS 
REGULATIONS
6th October, 1967
LEGAL NOTICE 63 of 1967, as amended by: Legal Notice 52 of 1972;
Act XIII of 1983; and Legal Notice 59 of 1998.
PART I 
PRELIMINARY
Title.
amongst Animals Regulations.
Interpretation. 
requires -
"department" means the Department of Agriculture;
"Director" means the Director of Agriculture and includes any
officer of the department duly authorised by him to act on his
behalf;
"Minister" means the Minister from time to time in charge of the
department;
"foreign animals’ wharf" means the wharf at Ras  }an \ir in the
Grand Harbour or such other place as the Minister may from time
to time appoint by notice in the Gazette;
Cap. 36. 
"observation" means the isolation of animals in the quarantine
station;
"quarantine station" means the Lazzaretto in the Marsamxett
Harbour, the Foreign Animals’ Wharf or such other place as may be
appointed by the Minister from time to time by notice in the
Gazette.
(2) Words and expressions which occur in the Ordinance and
which are not otherwise defined in these Regulations shall have the
same meaning as is assigned to them by article 2 thereof.
PART II 
FOREIGN ANIMALS
Information.
arriving in Malta shall answer truly and in writing, all such
questions for the purposes of these Regulations as are put to him by
the port medical officer, any government veterinary surgeon or any
revenue officer.
2 [ S.L.36.20 PREVENTION OF DISEASE AMONGST ANIMALS 
Importation 
permits. 
4. (1) No animals shall be imported into Malta from any
country whatsoever without a written permission from the Director
having been previously obtained to that effect.
(2) The Director may defer consideration of importation
applications, so as to obtain official information about the
existence or otherwise of disease in the exporting country.
Prohibition of and 
restriction on 
importation.
5. (1) The importation of animals from any country
whatsoever where, in the opinion of the Director, anthrax, cattle
plague (rinderpest), epizootic lymphangitis, foot and mouth
disease, glanders and farcy, contagious bovine pleuropneumonia,
rabies, sheep pox, swine fever, Newcastle disease, or myzomatosis
exists shall be prohibited.
(2) The importation of swine over three months of age from
countries where, to the knowledge of the Director, cysticercosis
(cyst cellulosae infestation) trichinellosis exists among swine, shall
also be prohibited.
(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of sub-regulations (1) and
(2) of this regulation, the Director may -
( a ) grant permission for the importation of animals
required for breeding purposes, subject to such
precautionary measures to prevent the introduction of
disease as he may consider necessary, and
( b ) grant permission for the importation of animals from
countries where anthrax is not epidemic, subject to
such restrictions as he may impose.
(4) When the Director has reason to believe that there is
danger of tuberculosis infection being brought into Malta by cattle
imported from any country, he may, by notice published in the
Gazette -
( a ) prohibit the importation of animals of any specified
species, breed and sex from any such country; or
( b ) require that any animal imported from any specified
country be accompanied by a certificate from the
country of origin to the effect that such animal has
been tested and found free from tuberculosis to the
satisfaction of the certifying authority.
Certification of 
animals.
6. Animals imported into Malta shall be accompanied by a
certificate from the diplomatic or consular representative of the
Government of Malta in the country of origin or by a person
serving in a diplomatic, consular or other foreign service of any
country which, by arrangement with the Government of Malta, has
undertaken to represent that government’s interests in that country,
or by a person authorised in that behalf by the Prime Minister, or, in
the absence of such persons, from the competent local government
authority, in the English, Italian or French language, stating which
animal diseases, if any, exist in the country of origin, the exact
number and the state of health of the animals shipped and the date
of shipment. 
PREVENTION OF DISEASE AMONGST ANIMALS  [ S.L.36.20 3
Observation and 
listing of animals.
7. The Director may subject any foreign animal on arrival to
observation and to any necessary process or test to ascertain
whether such animal is infected with disease at the expense of its
owner.
Landing of 
animals.
8. (1) Healthy foreign animals shall be landed at the Foreign
Animals’ Wharf.
(2) Infected or suspected foreign animals shall be landed at the
quarantine station.
(3) Horses, mules and asses imported from countries where, to
the knowledge of the Director, disease is prevalent among equines,
shall be landed at the quarantine station and shall be kept under
observation until the government veterinary surgeon is satisfied
that they are not infected with disease.
Feeding of animals 
after landing.
9. The Director may require importers of animals to water
and feed the animals imported as soon as he deems it necessary
after their landing.
Applications.
accordance with the provisions of regulation 4 shall be made on
forms supplied by the department and shall be accompanied by
such documentary evidence as the Director may require in support
of the application.
(2) Such provision shall also apply to applications for the
extension of permits already granted.
Permits.
signed by the Director and countersigned by the person to whom
the permit is granted.
(2) Importation permits are not transferable.
Slaughter of 
animals.
12. No animals shall be slaughtered during observation:
Provided that -
( a ) the Director may permit animals to be slaughtered for
urgent reasons, and
( b ) when for any good and sufficient reason he considers
that an animal should be slaughtered, the Director may
so direct, whereupon the animal shall be slaughtered
by and at the expense of its owner.
Access to animals 
under observation.
13. No person other than persons who are actually engaged in
tending the animals or cleaning their pens or places of observation
may enter pens or places of observation:
Provided that the Director may allow importers of animals
which are under observation to have access to their animals during
such time as may be fixed by him.
Disinfection of 
persons having 
access to animals 
in observation.
14. Every person when leaving a pen or place in which animals
are or have been recently kept under observation shall cleanse and
disinfect himself in the manner prescribed by the government
veterinary surgeon.
4 [ S.L.36.20 PREVENTION OF DISEASE AMONGST ANIMALS 
Fodder and litter, 
etc.
15. (1) Fodder and litter brought in the same ship with
animals shall not be landed. 
(2) No partly consumed or broken fodder, litter, dung or
manure may be removed from the quarantine station unless it has
been well mixed with quicklime and the government veterinary
surgeon is satisfied that on removal it will be effectually kept away
from contact with animals.
(3) If in the opinion of the government veterinary surgeon such
articles, if taken out of the quarantine station, may be the cause of
disease, their owner shall deal with them in accordance with the
government veterinary surgeon’s instructions and to his
satisfaction.
PART III 
PREVENTION OF SPREAD OF DISEASE
Isolation of 
infected places.
16. Whenever it appears to a government veterinary surgeon
that a disease exists in any stable, field or other place, he shall
forthwith order such place to be isolated and may detail one or
more health guards for this purpose.
Provisions 
consequential on 
infection order.
17. On a place being declared infected with disease in
accordance with the provisions of article 71 of the Ordinance -
(i) the place infected with disease shall be kept in
isolation;
(ii) no person shall leave such place, and no animal
or other thing shall be removed therefrom,
without the permission of the government
veterinary surgeon; 
(iii) any animal which has been removed from or
allowed to go out of such place shall be liable to
be removed to the quarantine station;
(iv) any person who shall leave such place without
the permission of the government veterinary
surgeon shall be liable to be forthwith removed
to the quarantine station to be disinfected, or, if
so ordered by the Minister, shall be kept there
under observation for such period as the Director
may deem necessary.
Observation at 
quarantine station. 
18. Any animal which is affected or suspected of being
affected with disease, or which the government veterinary surgeon
finds to have been directly or indirectly in contact with diseased or
suspected animals, may be removed to the quarantine station and
kept there under observation for such period as the Director may
deem necessary or until it is otherwise disposed of in accordance
with the law:
Provided that, in the case of any animal found to have been
directly or indirectly in contact with diseased or suspected animals,
such animal may be isolated in such other place as the Director may
order.
PREVENTION OF DISEASE AMONGST ANIMALS  [ S.L.36.20 5
Burial of certain 
carcasses.
19. It shall not be lawful to bury the carcass of any animal of
the bovine, ovine, caprine or equine species or of any swine,
without the permission of the government veterinary surgeon, or to
remove, without such permission, any fodder, litter, utensils or
other things from any place in which any animal of the species
referred to in this regulation had died.
Disposal, etc., of 
carcass.
20. The Director may give such directions as he may deem
necessary for the removal, burial or disposal of the carcass of any
animal.
Cleansing and 
disinfection.
21. The Director may order the cleansing and disinfection of
any infected ship, aircraft, place or area or any part or parts thereof,
and the disinfection of any person coming into contact with or
employed about diseased or suspected animals.
PART IV 
GENERAL
Fees and 
maintenance 
charges.
Amended by:
XIII. 1983.5.
22. (1) The fee for the escort, expense of conveyance to, and
maintenance of animals in the quarantine station, shall be at the
charge of the owner or of any other person for the time being in
charge of such animals.
(2) The maintenance charge at the quarantine station shall be
from ten cents to thirty-five cents  per diem  per animal as may be
requested by the Director having regard to the size of the animal,
which charge shall be payable every fortnight.
(3) In default of payment of such charge within four days from
the date on which it falls due, it shall be lawful for the Director to
cause the animal to be destroyed.
Director’s 
responsibility for 
animals in 
quarantine.
23. The Director shall not be responsible for anything that
might happen to the animal during its stay in any quarantine station
except for causes due to the wilful negligence of the detaining
authority.
