Legal and Official Background of the Breeding Organization Structure in Hungary

As a result of the spreading of farm animal breeds the first breeding associations were established in the 19th century and formed on Count István Széchenyi’s initiative from 1828.

The National Herd Book Committee was set up in 1885 and the breeding associations, that organized the breeding work till the 2nd World War, were established one after the other.
From the late forties of the 20th century to the political change, animal breeding was under state guidance. The National Progeny Control Inspectorate, the National Animal Breeding Inspectorate (1964-1982) and its successor the Institute for Animal Breeding and Feed Quality Control (1983-1988) as well as the legal predecessor of our Office, the National Institute for Agricultural Quality Control were the institutions involved in this system.

The Act on Animal Breeding (Act No. CXIV of 1993), accepted by the Parliament in 1993, socialized the organization of breeding work and provided with it new bases. As stated by this Act, breeding organisations are the depositories of breeding work and the influence of state is felt in regulatory systems, subsidies and administrative public proceedings.

2.
The amendment of the Act on Animal Breeding at the end of 1996 and the Governmental Regulation No. 274/2006 (XII. 23.) issued for its enforcement, assign the authority tasks of animal breeding to the newly established Central Agricultural Office (MgSzH) . The professional staff of the Animal Breeding Directorate of MgSzH completes its tasks through its four departments, three laboratories and two performance testing stations.

Animal breeding authority, completes the following tasks

within the scope of animal breeding organisation:

establishment and maintenance of national animal breeding data bank, data storage and processing, supply of multifunctional data for selection work, breeding and administrative decisions;
development and operation of the Uniform Farm Animal Identification and Registration System (ENAR) in cooperation with the Animal Health Authority;
execution of performance and control tests in its own testing stations and issue of charges for performance tests, publication of performance test results;
management of state-owned sires in the case of stallions and indigenous breeds;
direction and control of the maintenance of indigenous, protected breeds, protection of the origin of special Hungarian products;
cooperation with international organizations, working groups of the European Union and the representation of Hungary;

within the scope of animal breeding administration:

• approval of breeding organizations and breeds, issue of authorizations, execution of inspections, completion of examinations for the purpose of breed approval;
• authentication of breeding data, performance test results, herd book and breeding book, issue of farm identification codes;
• keeping registers of activities associated with authorization, recognized breeds, hybrids, crossing-programs and breeding associations.

In addition to the above mentioned tasks, MgSzH

authorizes

• the operation of artificial insemination stations, the use of sires for the purpose of semen production;
• the operation of embryo transfer stations;
• the operation of poultry and fish hatcheries and queen-bee raising units;

controls

• the compliance with the provisions of the animal breeding act, the professional activity of breeding organizations, the activities requiring official authorization, the keeping of data supply obligation and the payment of breeding contribution;
• the international trade of breeding animals and reproductive materials;
• the regular execution of carcass classification control, grading (EUROP) in slaughterhouses and trade;
• the origin of animals by means of documentation (pedigree) and molecular genetic (DNA) tests;

checks

• the approved breeding organizations, breeds, hybrids and breeding programs;
• the activities requiring official authorization;
• the results of foreign performance tests from the point of view of their convertibility.

The detailed enacting clauses of the Act on Animal Breeding regulates the above activities according to the EU Directives and legal norms and the activity of the breeding authority accommodates itself to these conditions.