Legal Research Reports: Regulation of Wild Animals Wet Markets

The Law Library of Congress is proud to present the report, Regulation of Wild Animals Wet Markets. 

This report examines the regulation of “wet markets,” where wild animals or the meat of such animals can be purchased for human consumption. It covers 28 jurisdictions around the world, with a particular focus on sanitary requirements for such markets and the legality of trading in wild animals or wild meat. Wet markets and other types of local or traditional food markets exist in countries around the world and are an important source of food and livelihood for many people. However, they have also been identified as potential or likely sources of outbreaks of diseases or infections that are transmissible from animals to humans, including most recently COVID-19.

This report is one of many prepared by the Law Library of Congress. Visit the Comprehensive Index of Legal Reports page for a complete listing of reports and the Current Legal Topics page for our highlighted and newer reports.