KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 3 — Small and medium livestock farms can bypass the standard 42-day wait for animal transfer permits if they obtain “disease-free” health certificates from the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS).
The certificates – issued free of charge – cover six major livestock diseases: foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), bovine tuberculosis (TB), brucellosis, Newcastle disease (NDV), avian salmonellosis, and avian influenza.
Farms that apply and subject their animals to screenings and tests can immediately secure transfer permits without DVS conducting additional on-site health checks, as disease-free farms are not required to repeat tests for transfer purposes.
“Once farmers hold the certificate within its valid period, transfer permits can be issued straight away. They don’t need to wait for the usual inspection period,” Dr Khairina Akmar Khalid, principal assistant director of the disease control and veterinary biosecurity division at DVS, told CodeBlue in an interview on the sidelines of Livestock Malaysia 2025 on August 29.
The scheme is open to farms that rear, breed, or sell their own livestock, but not to trader farms that only buy and resell animals.
Each disease requires its own certificate. For example, a farm certified for FMD must apply again if it also wants certification for TB. Certificates are valid for one year, after which farmers must undergo fresh screenings to renew them, Dr Khairina said.
The disease-free certificate will be revoked if any animals are found to test positive.
Under the current eVetPermit 3.0 system, livestock that are unvaccinated or lack clear health records must undergo two doses of FMD vaccine.
The first dose (P1) is followed by the second dose (P2) between 28 and 35 days later. The livestock then must wait 14 days after P2 to ensure adequate immunity before transfer is allowed. Altogether, this process can take 28 to 42 days.
Animals without proper vaccination or origin documentation are considered higher risk for spreading disease across districts or states, hence the mandatory vaccination and waiting periods. Farmers have complained that these requirements add costs – such as feed and potential mortality – and delay business operations.
How ‘Disease-Free’ Certification Works
Applications for the disease-free certificate must be made through state DVS offices, which then conduct health inspections, screening tests, and compliance checks against biosecurity requirements.
The type of screening depends on the disease. For FMD, new applicants must show no clinical signs for two years before qualifying. For renewals, DVS will collect blood samples the following year, and the certificate can be extended if results are negative.
Brucellosis – a disease caused by bacteria that commonly infect sheep, cattle, and goats, among others – requires stricter procedures. New applicants must provide blood samples every three months, three times in a year. If all three tests are negative, the farm qualifies for certification.
This means that from initial screening to approval, the process generally takes about a year, provided no cases or clinical signs of disease are detected.
For example, if an application is submitted in August with the three rounds of blood tests completed, the certificate would be issued the following year once the cycle is confirmed negative.
Raising Health Standards For Small Farms, But Uptake Still Modest
The scheme primarily targets small and medium farms that often lack formal biosecurity safeguards. By joining the programme, farms can improve herd health, keep more systematic records of livestock births and deaths, and align with international standards set by the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) – all at no cost.
Dr Khairina said healthier flocks contribute to national food security goals, such as Malaysia’s self-sufficiency ratio (SSR) targets, while preparing farms for potential export markets.
Farm size is determined by both the number and type of animals. Commercial farms generally have more than 500 head of livestock, though the scale differs by species, with separate thresholds for poultry, smaller ruminants like goats and sheep, and larger ruminants such as cattle and buffalo.
Despite being free, uptake of the “disease-free” certification has been relatively modest. As of January 1, 2025, only 69 premises had obtained certification for one of the three ruminant diseases – FMD, TB, or brucellosis – according to DVS data.
These include 24 small and medium farms in Terengganu, as well as Kedah (17), Negeri Sembilan (14), Johor (8), Selangor (3), Pahang (2), and Penang (1). Of these, 31 were renewals while 38 were new applications.
The latest figure of 69 marks a drop from previous years, with 89 premises certified in 2024, 97 in 2023, and 85 in 2022.
“One of the reasons for this is that we haven’t advertised it enough. Secondly, maybe farmers know about the certification, but they are not willing to go through the processes needed to obtain the disease-free farm certificate. There have also been updates to the criteria that have led to the drop in certifications,” Dr Khairina said.
No certifications have been issued yet for poultry diseases, as most poultry farmers opt for the Malaysia Good Agricultural Practice (myGAP) certification that enables exports.
Dr Khairina explained that the disease-free farm certification has existed internally at DVS since 2012. At the time, state and district offices would identify potential farms through the national surveillance programme, and certification was granted directly to those farms. “That was the original concept,” she said.
However, starting in 2022, DVS tightened the criteria. “When new applications were reviewed, we saw that yes, the farms were disease-free, but they lacked biosecurity. So the concept of a truly disease-free farm wasn’t fully applied.
“In 2023, we added biosecurity and farm records as requirements. We became stricter. Applications that didn’t meet these criteria had to be rejected, hence the decline,” she said.
DVS targets at least 25 farms a year for brucellosis certification and eight farms annually for TB, covering both renewals and new applications.
DVS Lacks Capacity For Commercial-Scale Sampling
Large-scale commercial farms may also apply for disease-free certification, though many have adopted health standards through myGAP certification, which already includes a mandatory veterinary health component for export.
“This is because DVS does not have the staff capacity to take and process such a large volume of samples, and the cost of providing those tests would also be too high.
“That is why, for commercial farms seeking disease-free certification, we are looking at public-private partnerships, meaning the farms themselves can carry out the testing, with verification by DVS,” Dr Khairina said.
She added that the disease-free health certificate could also help ease the process for farms that have yet to obtain myGAP certification, since one of myGAP’s requirements is proof of being disease-free.
Dr Khairina noted that small and medium-scale farmers typically cannot obtain myGAP certification, as export-oriented standards require more advanced infrastructure and higher investment. “But for the disease-free farm certificate, as long as farmers can meet the basic concept of biosecurity, they can qualify for recognition,” she said.
The department bears the full cost of the certification process, from start to finish. This includes advisory services at the application stage, on-site visits to conduct tests, sample collection, and laboratory analysis.
“When we take samples, of course you’re talking about consumables – tubes, needles, and lab kits – and that makes up the bulk of the cost,” she added.
Healthier Herds To Meet SSR Targets
DVS hopes the disease-free certification can push local farms toward international best practices and eventually expand Malaysia’s access to foreign markets.
“Of course, when we talk about farms being disease-free, it means the livestock are healthier. And when farms are healthy, their productivity increases,” Dr Khairina said.
She noted that many small and medium-scale farmers do not always connect livestock health with productivity, even though disease directly impacts output.
“Once the animals are healthy, productivity goes up, especially birth rates. This is crucial if we want to meet the country’s SSR and reduce dependence on imports, for example, for meat supply,” she said.
Improved productivity also means higher birth rates and lower mortality – factors many farms don’t actively monitor – ultimately leading to more livestock available domestically.
