The management of domestic ruminants and pigs is governed by the Code Rural (Book VI, Section 5). Management of races devolves on stockbreeders' associations, each with its particular role concerning :

• pedigree details,
• the animals' various functionnal or production aptitudes,
• managing the above data to calculate the animals's genetic value based on the results of various assessment methods.

Departmental organisations are authorised to collect performance data and manage the seed for ruminants,  and regional organisations for processing the data or testing and producing the seed of breeding-males. For ruminants and pigs, national organisations calculate the genetic-value index, produce and update technical protocols and manage the overall system : the Institut de l'Elevage (stockbreeding institute) for ruminants, and the Institut Technique du Porc (pig technical institute) for pigs.

A budget for managing small-population-size races (0.5% of the animal-breeding budget for ruminants and pigs) has been devoted to these species since the seventies. The funding, managed by the corrseponding technical institute, goes towards management programmes for cattle, certain sheep races,and all small-population-size pig races.

Poultry and rabbit management does not come under the Code Rural , and there is no national body formally in charge of technical assistance for the species' genetic improvement. The INRA aids breeding-companies, and the ITAVI ( Institut Technique en Aviculture : poultry-farming technical institute) provides assisatnce concerning feeding, stockbreeding management, etc. For poultry, the SYSAAF ( Syndicat des sélectionneurs avicoles et aquacoles français : French bird- and fish-breeding syndicate) provides genetic technical assistance. Small-population-size races exist due to the determination of a few breeders grouped together into associations, federated within the Fédération Française des Volailles (French poultry federation), itself under the S ociété Centrale d'Avicuture Française ( Central society of French poultry-farming).