Kazakhstan Implements Comprehensive Veterinary Development Plan Through 2030

A board meeting chaired by Minister of Agriculture Aidarbek Saparov was held at Kazakhstan's Ministry of Agriculture to review the implementation of the Comprehensive Veterinary Development Plan for 2026–2030. Heads of subordinate organizations, representatives of the regions and territorial divisions took part in the discussion.

Aidarbek Saparov noted that the development of the veterinary service is one of the priority areas of state policy and is directly linked to ensuring food security and expanding Kazakhstan's export opportunities.

Following an instruction from the Head of State, Kazakhstan approved the Comprehensive Veterinary Development Plan for 2026–2030. It provides for the establishment of a modern veterinary safety system covering infrastructure and laboratory diagnostics development, digitalization, improvement of legislation, staffing and veterinary pharmaceuticals.

The Minister emphasized that the state is allocating significant resources to the development of the sector. The main task is to ensure their effective use and achieve practical results in the regions. This includes timely disease prevention, reliable veterinary control, improvement of the epizootic situation and higher-quality veterinary services.

KZT 66.2 billion has been allocated to strengthen the material and technical base of the veterinary service in 2026–2027. These funds will be used to construct and acquire 2,399 veterinary facilities. All measures scheduled for 2026 must be completed within the established deadlines and deliver practical results.

Vice Minister of Agriculture Amangaliy Berdalin reported at the meeting on the current progress in implementing the Comprehensive Plan.

The plan includes eight main areas. These include ensuring epizootic well-being, developing laboratory diagnostics, the digital transformation of the sector, staffing and the development of veterinary pharmaceuticals.

As part of the ongoing work, particular attention is being paid to the vaccination and identification of farm animals. An inventory of animal burial sites is also being conducted, along with work to bring their fencing into proper condition. These measures are scheduled to be completed by the end of October 2026.

At the same time, Kazakhstan continues its efforts to expand export opportunities for domestically produced livestock products. The country has obtained and confirmed statuses from the World Organisation for Animal Health for several particularly dangerous diseases. These include foot-and-mouth disease, avian influenza, African and classical swine fever, as well as African horse sickness.

During 2026, work is underway to open additional foreign markets for Kazakhstan's livestock products. In particular, access is being explored for poultry products to the Chinese market, meat products to Türkiye and Thailand, sport horses to the UAE, live horses to Japan, dairy products to the Republic of Korea, and pork to Georgia.

In addition, work continues to secure access for Kazakhstan's aquaculture products and horse meat to the European Union market.

As part of efforts to improve state regulation of the sector and strengthen veterinary control, a draft law "On Veterinary Medicine" has been submitted to Parliament.

Another area of the Comprehensive Plan is the digitalization of the veterinary sector. Kazakhstan is improving its traceability and electronic certification systems. With the support of the World Bank, a veterinary medicines accounting system is also being developed to ensure their traceability at every stage, from the issuance of a prescription to their actual use.

A separate area of work focuses on staffing the veterinary service. Measures include social support for veterinary specialists, provision of uniforms and special clothing, higher wages and the introduction of additional incentive mechanisms. The number of educational grants for master's degree programs is planned to be increased to 200.

The phased modernization of veterinary control posts at the state border is also continuing. The infrastructure upgrade is aimed at improving the effectiveness of veterinary control and ensuring uninterrupted foreign trade turnover.

The meeting also heard reports from regions that were lagging behind on certain indicators. Following the discussion, Aidarbek Saparov instructed officials to ensure the implementation of all measures under the Comprehensive Plan, accelerate the construction and commissioning of veterinary facilities, and strengthen oversight of the implementation of assigned tasks at the local level.

According to the Minister, the veterinary service is tasked with creating a modern, efficient and digital system capable of preventing threats in a timely manner and maintaining sustainable veterinary well-being in the country. The necessary financial, infrastructure and legislative conditions have already been created, and further work should focus on coordinated interaction among all levels of the veterinary system and the practical implementation of the decisions that have been adopted.