The Liberian government has embarked on the process of reforming the agriculture sector considering lessons learnt, existing challenges and prospects. These include providing the legal and policy framework and creating enabling environment for management of emerging and re-emerging zoonotic diseases, animal health in general and the necessity of dealing with health aspects of animals and animal derived products for local consumption and international trade.

In addressing these challenges, formulation of Veterinary and Animal Health Disease Law is cardinal for prevention, detection, control, and eradication of all animal diseases, zoonoses and the prevention of antimicrobial resistance through the control and regulation of the use and administration of veterinary medicinal products, farm biosecurity and subsequent enactment of necessary legislation.  This process is being led by the Ministry of Agriculture Department of Technical Services, which takes into consideration the context of “One Health” and embracing practices of sustainability.

This drive has resulted in a refocusing of attention to the formulation and drafting of the Veterinary and Animal Health Disease Law aligned with global best practices.

Under the technical supervision of the FAO Development Law Service (LEGN), the  overall supervision of the FAO Representative in Liberia, and in close collaboration with the FAO ECTAD team, the Minister of Agriculture (or a designate of the Minister) the Legal Advisor of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Principal Director for Animal Resources Division, the consultant(s) will conduct desk review and lead the drafting and finalization of the Veterinary and & Animal Health Disease Law of Liberia.

The incumbent will ensure delivery of a comprehensive legal framework covering all relevant areas of animal health, clearly delineate responsibilities and authorities, and provide guidance on successful compliance and enforcement of such to have an effective animal health legislation system in the country.

Specifically, the incumbent will provide services as follows:

• Develop a national legal report with a succinct analysis of the national regulatory framework and actual implementation arrangements for:

• veterinary medicines, including authorization by the Medicines Authority, but also sale, prescription, record keeping obligations and disposal. Identify the role of the Ministry of Agriculture in promoting prudent AM prescription, use and disposal.

• the provision of veterinary services and professional boards, including the rules regulating other professional boards (medical doctors, lawyers). Examples of regulation that observes different professional levels (equivalent to veterinarians/veterinary paraprofessionals) would be important, maybe in the realm of human medicine, pharmacy, or Nursing/Midwifery boards etc.

• the safety of food from animal origin, including the role of the National Food Safety authority on the traceability of food from animal origin and live animals. This may require information from the field.

• slaughterhouses registration, inspections in slaughterhouses, ante and postmortem certification and authorization for sale. This may require understanding how things work at the county level and inside the slaughterhouses (if there are or not county-level orders or regulation) including how inspections and slaughter work in practice beyond what is written in the law.

• Wet markets and live animal markets (this might be regulated at the county level)

• The sanitary protection of wildlife.

• In preparing the analysis, fill the matrix of legislation provided by the Legal Officer.

• Veterinary and Para veterinary professions

• Obligations of veterinarians, farmers, and licensed professionals in the veterinary sector in relation to antimicrobial prescription, record-keeping, use and disposal.

• Regulation of live animal markets including live bird markets

• Regulation of the authorization, inspection, and control of slaughterhouses until post-mortem control and meat certification.

• Establish the Veterinary Service (VS) as the competent authority for the veterinary profession and paraprofessionals in Liberia.

• Establish a sound legal basis for the Veterinary Service (VS) to take the necessary actions to prevent and control animal disease events (appoint and authorise veterinary inspectors to perform their duties; implement quarantine, movement control and other sanitary measures; delegate VS functions to private veterinary practitioners or where necessary civil society.

• Provide for the essential systems and processes to rapidly identify and respond to animal disease events (e.g. chain of command; surveillance system; mandatory reporting of notifiable diseases; animal disease emergency contingency plan).

• Provide for the Veterinary laboratory essential systems and processes to rapidly identify and respond to animal disease events (e.g. chain of command; lab network/system; mandatory reporting of notifiable diseases).

• Establish the VS responsibility towards abattoir and slaughterhouses registration and management, meat inspections in slaughterhouses, meat ante and postmortem certification and authorization for sale, waste disposal at the abattoir/slaughterhouses.

• Align the draft law with the findings and recommendations of the WOAH VLSP report with respect to the internal quality and external quality of the law as defined by the WOAH/OIE.

• Ensure that the draft Veterinary and Animal Health bill include comprehensive coverage and provisions that would be able to cope with emerging trends and changes that might occur in the foreseeable future.

• Position the Veterinary and Animal Health Law at the cutting edge of national governance and administrative instruments by embracing policy articulation and legal harmonization.

• Following consultation with the Ministry of Health and based on the draft Liberia veterinary Law 2014: propose a short chapter on veterinary services to be included in the draft animal health bill. This legal basis should encompass the registration, abilitation and support to veterinarians, veterinary paraprofessionals, and community health workers. Redraft the proposed Liberia Veterinary Law 2014 to become an implementing regulation to the revised draft Animal Health and welfare law. The title should expressly refer to. Include new chapters for veterinary paraprofessionals and community health workers. Specific tasks and responsibilities for veterinary paraprofessionals and community health workers are to be included in annexes to such regulation. These annexes should be flexible for the VSB to amend.

• Present and discuss the resulting drafts with all stakeholders. Collect feedback and revise the draft legislation accordingly.

• Prepare a final report, with a commented version of the draft legislation and concrete recommendations for its approval and implementation.

• Draft and submit a consultancy final report which will include: the legal analysis validated legal draft, the validation workshop report, and the way forward for the Ministry of Agriculture.

• Academic qualification: –

Law Degree from an accredited law school

• Professional and work Experience:  At least five (5) years experience in agriculture, health, or veterinary legislation or in a related field

• At least five (5) years of demonstrated work/experience in legal drafting, including experience in Liberia.

• Language: Working knowledge of English level C

• National of Liberia or a resident in the country with a valid work permit.

• Results Focus

• Teamwork

• Communication

• Building Effective Relationships

• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

• Fluency required in written and spoken English.

• Excellent communication and community engagement skills

• Must have comprehensive knowledge and experience of the existing animal health and public health regulations, plus the national animal health systems and networks in Liberia.

• Must have sufficient knowledge and means of access to information on abattoir systems, AMR activities, import/export regulations in Liberia.

• Technical knowledge of the national legal environment and best practices is also necessary.

• Proven ability to build good relationships with a variety of stakeholders, including government institutions, NGOs, and local communities/stakeholders.

• Ability to translate and adapt international guidelines and frameworks into local context.

• Demonstrated ability to work with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock production/Animal Health stakeholders.

• Experience in working with stakeholders within the various sectors and subsectors.

• Ability to work alone and in teams and have strong interpersonal communication skills.

• Previous experience working on international donor projects is highly preferred.

• Working knowledge of MS office and relevant IT tools and software (Word, Excel, Power point)

• Excellent communication, networking, written and presentation skills.

• Familiarity with United Nations System and/or FAO’s programming mechanisms.

• An advance law degree or PhD in law would be an asset.

• Experience in working with relevant development partners and national institutions is an asset.