Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Uzbekistan has refuted reports that the Legislative Chamber passed a draft law including donkeys in the list of animals whose meat is fit for consumption.

Some Telegram channels claimed that the Legislative Chamber reviewed a draft law proposing the inclusion of donkeys in the list of animals whose meat is deemed consumable.

According to Odiljon Tojiev, Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan, the draft law in question does not address issues related to meat consumption. Instead, it focuses on the identification, registration, and tracking of animals.

Tojiev clarified that the draft law proposes the identification of domestic animals such as cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, horses, donkeys, camels, dogs, and cats through visual or electronic tags, as well as microchips. This applies to animals owned and bred by both individuals and legal entities.

He added that during the discussion of the draft law, objections were raised regarding the need to identify donkeys, dogs, and cats. These concerns were taken into account by the initiators of the bill, and if the draft is approved in the first reading, these provisions will be removed before the second reading.

Tojiev emphasized that the draft law does not include provisions categorizing donkey meat as fit for consumption.