Cleaver falls on sale, purchase of cattle for slaughter

Buffalo meat traders say ban would hit exports as 90% cattle is purchased from animal markets

The Union Ministry of Environment and Forest has banned the sale and purchase of cattle from animal markets for slaughter — a move that could hurt the country’s buffalo meat export.

Animals, including cattle and buffaloes, can be bought and sold only for agricultural purposes. The market is worth around Rs 1 lakh crore.

The environment ministry’s notification evoked strong reactions from cattle  traders, meat exporters and political parties.

Buffalo exporters said the ban could hit their trade, as around 90 per cent of cattle slaughtered was bought from animal markets. 

“We will have to shut down our businesses as around 90 per cent of our daily animal requirement is sourced from such mandis. The notification will sign a death knell for small and marginal farmers, as they won’t be able to sell their old cattle,” D B Sabharwal, secretary-general of the All India Meat and Livestock Exporters Association, told Business Standard. 

The rules define cattle as bovine animals, including bulls, bullocks, cows, buffaloes, heifers, calves and camels. He said his association was trying to talk to the government to withdraw or modify the notification, issued on May 23, and was going through all its details.

Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan said the new rules were “specific” and aimed to regulate animal markets and sale of cattle. He clarified the provisions applied only to animals in livestock markets and animals seized as case properties, adding these rules did not cover other areas.  

“The ministry has notified the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017. The aim is only to regulate the animal market and ensure welfare of cattle there,” he said.

All existing functional animal markets across the country will have to register themselves under the district animal market monitoring committee within three months of the notification.

Reacting to the notification, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the Centre’s rules were part of its efforts to further the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS’s) agenda in the country. 

“The Sangh Parivar unleashed violence in many parts of the country in the name of protesting cow slaughter. Crores of people in the country slaughter cattle for their food,” Vijayan added. Buffalo meat is widely consumed in Kerala. 

Kerala Agriculture Minister V S Sunil Kumar said the Centre’s decision was unacceptable and unconstitutional. The Students Federation of India has decided to organise a beef fest in 210 centres across the state.

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC)  President M M Hassan, on the other hand, called the Centre’s move “undemocratic” and “unconstitutional”. Congress leader Shashi Tharoor tweeted: “Gandhiji had objected to imposing one’s views on others. Freedom is being eroded.”

India is a global leader in buffalo meat trade. Exports grew at a compound annual rate of 29 per cent between 2007-08 and 2015-16 to Rs 26,685 crore, from Rs 3,533 crore. The country is also the largest producer of milk, of which over 50 per cent comes from buffaloes.

According to the notification, a member secretary of an animal market committee will have to ensure that no person brings a young animal to the market. “No persons shall bring cattle to the animal market unless upon arrival they have furnished a written declaration signed by the owner of the cattle, stating the name and address of the owner, with a copy of the photo identification proof. Giving details of the identification of the cattle and stating that it has not been brought to market for sale for slaughter,” the notification said.

The notification also banned holding of an animal market within 25 km of any state border and 50 km of any international border to stop smuggling of cattle.

Under the rules, the district animal market monitoring committee will have to ensure that the market has adequate housing, shade, feeding troughs, water tanks with multiple taps and buckets, lighting, ramps at the appropriate height of vehicles, separate enclosures for sick and infirm animals, among other provisions.

A senior environment ministry official told PTI the notification was in the direction of animal welfare. The notification has described the “animal market” as a place or sale-yard where animals are brought from other places and exposed for sale or auction and includes lair age adjoining a market or a slaughterhouse.

N G Jayasimha, former member of legal sub-committee of Animal Welfare Board of India, said due to the present system of open markets that allow trade of both milch and slaughter animals, and multiple buyers and sellers, it becomes impossible to trace an animal back to its farm of origin.

“Hence, the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017, has been notified.

The rules prohibit the sale of animals for slaughter through livestock markets so that animals for slaughter could be sought directly from farms, thus ensuring traceability and food safety,” he said.