LDDB restructuring: PM orders setting up livestock vaccine production facility

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday ordered a restructuring of the country’s Livestock and Dairy Development Board (LDDB) and given officials a week to draw up plans for a national livestock vaccine production plant.

Chairing a high-level meeting on livestock sector reforms, the prime minister called for private-sector experts to be inducted into the board to improve its effectiveness and operational capacity.

Established in 2007, the LDDB was tasked with improving livestock breeding, increasing milk and meat production, and promoting the development of the sector.

Sharif also directed the federal government to establish a modern livestock vaccine production facility using its own resources.

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The National Agricultural Research Centre is being considered as a possible site, with officials asked to submit a strategy within a week.

Officials told the meeting that livestock vaccines currently available in Pakistan had not been approved by the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP). Measures were being taken to support domestic production of purified vaccines, they said.

The meeting was also briefed on plans to establish special bonded warehouses for imported livestock. Sharif directed that animals brought into the country through these facilities be used for value-added production, with meat and dairy products subsequently exported.

He said the private sector should take the lead in developing the livestock industry.

As part of efforts to improve export standards, third-party audits of slaughterhouses had begun, officials told the meeting.

However, no details were provided about the number of facilities covered or the expected completion date of the audits.

The meeting reviewed progress on livestock sector reforms and measures to increase exports. The briefing did not specify export growth targets, investment requirements or implementation deadlines for the broader reform programme.

Federal Minister for National Food Security Rana Tanveer Hussain, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Climate Change Minister Musadik Malik, Economic Affairs Minister Ahad Khan Cheema and Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan attended the meeting. State Minister for Finance Bilal Azhar Kiani and senior officials from relevant departments were also present.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026