Animal health

Norway stands out as one of the countries with very good animal health and few cases of serious contagious animal diseases and zoonoses. Furthermore, the consumption of antimicrobial agents and the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in Norwegian livestock is among the lowest in the world.

This status is not coincidental. Norwegian animal health is a result of generations of effort, strict regulations in constant development, good cooperation between the authorities, Academia,responsible veterinarians and a responsible and competent livestock  industry and keepers. This includes monitoring and surveillance, research, preparedness and preventive work. The collaborative model has produced favourable results for both animals, food business operators and society in general.

Also, Norway is blessed with natural conditions that contribute to good animal health. We are located far to the north and have a favorable cool climate, so meny . infectious agents and vectors, such as insects, have a harder time surviving. In addition, Norwegian livestock production consists of small and scattered farms, and in large parts of the country there are long distances between livestock farms.

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Regulations

The livestock industry and the animal keepers themselves are responsible for animal welfare, and to comply withregulations This applies also to private animal husbandry, where the pet owner is responsible for ensuring their own animal's health Animal health is safeguarded in the Food Act and the Act relating to Veterinarians and Other Animal Health Personnel.

The animal health regulations, which were implemented into Norwegian law in 2022, have important objectives regarding the prevention and control of diseases, enhanced monitoring, preparedness and the combat of antimicrobial resistance.. Infection prevention reduces the incidence of disease outbreaks in both animals and humans.

Animal health status

It is important that we continue to protect the current good animal health status in Norway. Good animal health status is not something we can take for granted. It is affected by climate change, environmental impact, intrusion of alien species, increased globalization through travel, as well as the transport and import of food, animals and feed. Furthermore, the "One world - one health" perspective makes evident the inextricable interdependence between animal health, environmental health and human health. Maintaining good animal  health is one of society’s important obligations and requires a continuous effort in research, surveillance  and preparedness.

Responsible agencies, institutes and their roles

The Norwegian Food Safety Authority is the Ministry of Agriculture and Food's executive body regarding animal health and animal welfare in land animals.

The Norwegian Food Safety Authority  contribute with:

• Development of regulations
• Supervision of regulatory compliance
• Preventive measures
• Monitoring the disease and welfare status
• Preparedness in case of infectious animal disease
• Registration and management of serious animal disease and failing animal welfare incidents

• Read more about animal health and animal welfare here (mattilsynet.no)

The Veterinary Institute's most important function is readiness and competence development in averting threats to health in fish, animals and humans. They provide research-based advice to the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, enabling the Norwegian Food Safety Authority to survey status, analyse conditions and manage risks in the best possible way.

The Norwegian ScientificCommittee for Food and Environment (VKM) provides independent scientific risk assessments to the Norwegian Food Safety Authority and the Norwegian Environment Agency, which use the assessments to develop policy, issue permits, adjust regulations and feed information back to the ministry.