36 Additional Personnel Assigned to Respond to Livestock Diseases Including African Swine Fever

Strengthening Interdepartmental Collaboration on Livestock Odor Response... Revision of Enforcement Rules

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The government has decided to reinforce its workforce by 36 personnel to respond to livestock diseases such as African Swine Fever (ASF).

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on the 1st that the amendment to the "Organization and Enforcement Rules of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and its Affiliated Agencies," which reflects the increase in livestock disease prevention personnel and the regularization of collaborative staff, was promulgated and enforced on the 25th of last month.

Inter-ministerial collaborative staff will be actively utilized for issues such as livestock odor, animal disease prevention, and control of invasive pests. Three tasks?management of livestock manure utilization, surveillance and control of invasive pests, and safety management of livestock products?will be converted to regular positions starting this year. Zoonotic diseases and ASF prevention tasks will have collaborative staff dispatched from this year, with a decision on regularization to be made after two years.

The workforce for responding to livestock diseases such as ASF and protecting companion animals will be increased by 33 personnel (36 including collaborative staff). Twenty-one quarantine X-ray and detection dog operation personnel will be assigned to Incheon International Airport and Jeju International Airport. Personnel for livestock disease prevention, epidemiological investigation, and companion animal protection (6 people), research personnel for ASF vaccine development (4 people), and ASF prevention management personnel (2 people) will also be reinforced.

The ministry will increase personnel by 14 to strengthen services such as agricultural and livestock product quarantine and agricultural product safety inspection. This includes increasing personnel for export farm quarantine services (5 people) and surveillance personnel for invasive plant pests (2 people). Personnel for export agricultural product safety analysis (3 people) and on-site investigation of seed distribution (4 people) will also be increased. Additionally, personnel for agricultural machinery management (2 people) and support personnel for ICT convergence education (3 people) will be increased.

A ministry official stated, "We will continue to secure necessary personnel to promote national tasks and improve public services, actively discover inter-ministerial collaborative projects, and enhance work efficiency."

2021 Annual Quota and Irregular Staff Increase Details. (Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs)

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