Vets will be allowed to operate in hotel establishments

After the latest parliamentary meeting, the government has agreed to allow veterinary services to operate in hotel establishments, the head of a parliamentary committee has said.

Lawmaker Vong Hin Fai, president of the Third Standing Committee of the parliament, pointed out that the government had agreed to eliminate the relevant proposal in the bill concerning veterinary services and animal-oriented businesses.

The proposal was set to ban veterinary services in hotel establishments.

The original proposal related to the venues in which animal-oriented businesses was drafted that such businesses must not be established in realty inconsistent with the use of the businesses, particularly not in residences, industrial buildings, hotels, public facilities or parking lots.

The change was made after some Committee members raised concerns over tourists staying at hotels with their pets. The same concern was also expressed at the first reading of the bill but due to the nature of discussion, the question was deferred.

Meanwhile, changes to the ownership of animal-oriented businesses have also been made. The current version of the bill proposes that such businesses will be allowed to be carried out by individuals or legal persons. In addition, the term legal persons here will not only include commercial companies, but also associations, consortia and foundations.

According to Vong, if the bill enters into force, people with a Bachelor’s degree in medicine will be allowed to practice veterinary services, provided that they also have Master’s or Doctorate degree in the discipline. The reason behind the change is in consideration of differences in curricula in different places.

The bill also proposes the establishment of a veterinary professional committee that will comprise seven members with established knowledge in the area. Although the government hopes that at least half of the members will be from outside the civil service structure, this “hope” has not been stated as a requirement in the bill. The reason is that the government fears there will not be a sufficient number of veterinarians.

The bill, if passed, will come into force on Apr. 1.