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Chapter Law Content

Title: Veterinarian Act CH
Category: Ministry of Agriculture(農業部)
Chapter 2 Veterinary Practice
Article 5
5.1 A veterinarian shall apply to the local competent authority at the intended locale (special municipality, city or county) for practice registration. The applicant shall submit the application form, veterinary certificate, photo, and application fees. Only after a practice license is obtained can he or she commence the practice.
5.2 The term "practice" in Section 5.1 (paragraph 1 of Article 5) refers to diagnosis, treatment, inspection, writing diagnosis reports and prescription, certifying documents, and other tasks designated to veterinarians according to law.
5.3 To remain eligible to practice, a veterinarian shall engage in continuing education and renew his or her practice license every six years by presenting certificates of continuing education completed.
5.4 Regulations governing the practice registration (credentials, qualifications, and documents to submit), the practice license (its issuance, replacement, reissuance and renewal) in Section
5.1 (paragraph 1 of Article 5), and continuing education (curriculum, units of credit, administration, recognition of such education completed) in Section 5.3 (paragraph 3 of Article5) as well as rules to abide by, are to be prescribed by the central competent authority.
Article 6
In any of the following situations, the practice license shall not be issued; in case a license has been issued, it shall be revoked or terminated,
(1)The applicant’s veterinarian certificate has been revoked.
(2)The applicant’s veterinarian practice license has been terminated for less than one year.
(3)It has been declared that the applicant is under a guardianship or assistantship that is not yet revoked.
(4)The veterinarian who has been determined to be unable to practice based on objective facts as determined by a team of pertinent specialist physicians, veterinarians and scholars/experts invited by the municipal or county (city) competent authority.
After the cause listed in subparagraph 3 or subparagraph 4 of the preceding paragraph is eliminated, the veterinarian may still apply for practice license in accordance with Article 5.1.
Article 7
A veterinarian's practice is to be limited to the location where his license is applied for, and shall be conducted in duly registered entities such as veterinary animal care facilities, livestock farms, or veterinary medicine institutions or other institutions recognized and required by the competent authority to have veterinarians on staff. However, the above restriction is not applicable to inter- agency consultation, support, house calls, emergencies or pre-approved tasks.
Article 8
8.1 To suspend, terminate, resume a practice or change the locale of practice, the veterinarian shall, within 10 days, file for record with the authority from which the practice license was obtained. In the case of relocating a practice to another jurisdiction, the veterinarian shall follow the instructions in Article 5.
8.2 In the case of a veterinarian’s death, the next of kin or local household registration agency shall report the event to the original license-issuing authority, which shall cancel the practice license.
Article 9
A veterinarian shall not engage in practice until after he or she becomes a member of the local veterinary association.
Article 10
A practicing veterinarian shall not issue a diagnosis certificate or write a prescription without personally performing the diagnosis and/or treatment nor issue an inspection certificate without personally conducting the inspection.
Article 11
A practicing veterinarian shall not refuse to perform diagnosis, treatment or testing without proper cause and shall not refuse to issue a summary of medical records, diagnosis reports, testing certificates, image records and other diagnosis and treatment related certificates; animal owners shall pay any and all necessary associated fees and/or expenses.
Article 12
12.1 A practicing veterinarian shall make entries about the diagnosis, treatment and/or inspection in the corresponding medical record or inspection record when conducting diagnosis, treatment, or inspection.
12.2 The medical record in Section 12.1 (paragraph 1 of Article12) shall contain:
(1)The name and address of the animal owner,
(2)The species and weight of the animal,
(3)For each visit – the treatment date, physical conditions, diagnostic results as well as prevention, medication used andtreatment performed.
(4)If controlled substance is administered – the drug name, dosage and application method.
Article 13
When alerted to a case of notifiable infectious animal disease during practice, a veterinarian shall give instructions aboutdisinfection and quarantine methods, and identify and report the species, name of the disease, and the name and address of the owner or caregiver to the local competent authority within 24 hours.
Article 14
A veterinarian shall not make any false statement or report when responding to government inquiries or entrusted with legal examination.
Article 15
In response to events such as natural disasters and when performing prevention/treatment of infectious animal diseases, a veterinarian is obligated to follow the instructions of the local competent authority.
Article 16
16.1 A veterinary assistant, under the guidance of a veterinarian, is allowed to assist in veterinary care; but he or she shall not issue diagnosis certificates, write prescriptions or issue certifications of relevant documents.
16.2 A veterinary assistant with an old version of registered certificate obtained before this Act was amended or a veterinary assistant certificate issued within 10 years after the amendment who have either of the following qualifications -- pending recognition by the central competent authority -- may perform diagnosis, treatment, inspection; issue diagnosis certificates; and write prescriptions. However, he or she shall not issue certification of relevant documents designated by the competent authority.
(1)Four years or more in support of veterinary practice at a veterinary animal care facility.
(2)Five years or more in support of veterinary practice at livestock farms, veterinary medicine institutions or other entities recognized by the competent authority.
16.3 When veterinary assistants perform veterinary practice according to Sections 16.1 (paragraph 1 of Article 16) and 16.2 (paragraph 2 of Article 16), other provisions about a veterinarian’s practice in this chapter also apply.