62nd Meeting of the SPS Committee
Communication from the World Organisation for Animal
Health (OIE)
The
following communication, received on 6 March 2015, is being circulated at the
request of the OIE.
_______________
The
OIE is pleased to provide this update for the information of SPS Committee
Members. This report focuses on: 1) developments in the OIE standards for
terrestrial and aquatic animals; 2) the launch of The Guide to Terrestrial Animal Health Surveillance; 3) the
third OIE Global Conference on Aquatic Animal Health: Riding the
Wave to the Future; and 4) capacity building using the OIE PVS
Pathway.
1 Developments in the OIE standards for terrestrial and aquatic
animals
1.1. The Terrestrial Animal Health Standards Commission (Code Commission)
met on 10‑20 February 2015. The meeting focused on new and revised texts
for the Terrestrial Animal Health Code (Terrestrial Code) to be proposed for adoption at the 83rd
General Session (24‑29 May 2015).
1.2. The Aquatic Animal Health Standards Commission met on 2-6 March
2015. The meeting focused on new and revised texts for the Aquatic
Animal Health Code and Manual of Diagnostic Tests
for Aquatic Animals to be proposed for adoption at the 83rd
General Session.
1.3. The OIE draws the attention of WTO Members to the following
important developments.
1.1 Foot and mouth disease (FMD)
1.4. The revised chapter on FMD that will be proposed for adoption this
year represents the culmination of several years work by an ad hoc group of
experts and the Specialist Commissions. Each draft circulated for member
countries' comments attracted a large number of comments and suggestions which
have been systematically addressed by the ad hoc group and the Specialist
Commissions.
1.5. In response to member countries' requests for additional definitions
of "official emergency vaccination", and "systematic vaccination";
and revision of the waiting time for recovery of free status without
vaccination when vaccination is used in response to an outbreak the Code
Commission considered these requests to be part of a broader issue on
vaccination to be addressed in the future, probably by development of a
specific horizontal chapter on vaccination programmes. The Code Commission has
recommended the Director General establish an ad hoc group to address this
subject prior to its September 2015 meeting.
1.2 Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)
1.6. Urgent amendments to the BSE disease articles are being proposed
this year to prevent a country's BSE categorisation status being adversely
affected by the occurrence of the spontaneously occurring condition, "atypical"
BSE.
1.7. In proposing these amendments, the Specialist Commissions also noted
that the exposure assessment detailed in Article 11.4.4.
of the BSE chapter should be conducted regardless of the outcome of the entry
assessment because of the possibility of recycling "atypical" BSE.
1.3 Harmonisation of the chapters on vector borne disease (Infection
with African horse sickness virus; Infection with bluetongue virus; Infection
with epizootic haemorrhagic disease virus)
1.8. Since the adoption of the revised chapter on infection with African
sickness virus in 2012, an ad hoc group of experts and the Specialist
Commissions have reviewed and harmonised the existing chapter on
"Infection with bluetongue virus", and the new chapter on "Infection
with epizootic haemorrhagic disease" to harmonise with the structure,
format and concepts presented in the "Infection with African horse
sickness virus" chapter, especially in relation to vector control, vector
surveillance and risk mitigation activities related to the vector common to
these three diseases. The new chapter on "Infection with epizootic
haemorrhagic disease virus", and the revised chapter on "Infection
with bluetongue virus" will be proposed for adoption in May.
1.4 Infection with African swine fever virus (ASF)
1.9. The chapter on infection with ASF virus has been updated taking into
account the advice of an ad hoc group of experts, and the recommendations
developed from the technical item on "African swine fever: new challenges
and measures to prevent its spread" at the 2014 OIE General Session, and
the subsequent OIE and the International Council for Game and Wildlife
Conservation joint international meeting on early detection and prevention of
ASF and other animal health issues at the wildlife-livestock-human interface.
1.5 High health status horse subpopulation
1.10. This chapter, first adopted last year, has been revised in response
to member countries' comments. Although many member countries sought greater
detail and clarification, the Specialist Commissions noted that this chapter
was developed as a general principles document intentionally. The Code
Commission recognised that several member countries have concerns over this new
concept, due to the absence of the supporting biosecurity plan and the OIE implementation
guidelines, but these are both under development. These will incorporate the
key concepts and principles for establishment and maintenance of a high health
status subpopulation or compartment. The biosecurity plan will be developed by
the private sector partners: Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI) and the
International Federation of Horse Racing Authorities (IFHA). Whilst it is
possible that some of the details could be incorporated in the Terrestrial Code in the future, for the moment the chapter
is intended to address the key principles and concepts only.
2 The Guide to Terrestrial Animal Health Surveillance - a new OIE
practical handbook
2.1. The Guide to Terrestrial Animal Health
Surveillance was developed by international experts in surveillance
methodology and takes into account the complexity of animal health management,
the diversity of the animal kingdom and the variety of situations in the 180
OIE member countries.
2.2. It provides a framework for animal health surveillance activities
carried out by national Veterinary Services and other competent authorities in
partnership with public sector veterinarians, diagnostic laboratories, animal
owners, forest wardens, hunters and other stakeholders. This handbook can be
purchased from the OIE Online Bookshop, accessible through the OIE website: http://www.oie.int.
3 The third OIE Global Conference on Aquatic Animal Health: Riding the
Wave to the Future
3.1. The 3rd OIE Global Conference on Aquatic Animal Health
was held at Ho Chi Minh City (Viet Nam)
from 20 to 22 January 2015. This Conference was one of a series of global
conferences that began in 2006 aimed at raising awareness of the importance of
aquatic animal health, and building a global framework for improving the
management, prevention and control of aquatic animal diseases.
3.2. The Conference brought together over 250 key players in the
aquaculture sector from nearly 100 countries, including representatives of
national Veterinary Services and Aquatic Animal Health Services, international
experts from OIE Reference Centres, representatives of national, regional and
international organisations, and representatives of other Competent
Authorities.
3.3. The Conference served as a reminder of the crucial importance of
implementing OIE standards, both to safeguard aquatic animal health and to
facilitate safe trade. To be able to implement them, the Veterinary Services
and the Aquatic Animal Health Services must have the appropriate competency and
capacity. However, with most aquaculture production originating in developing
and emerging countries, there is also an on-going need to strengthen the
capacity of all member countries in this respect. The OIE provides its member
countries with support, notably through its PVS Pathway for evaluating the
performance of Veterinary Services and/or Aquatic Animal Health Services.
3.4. The conference discussions served to achieve a greater awareness of
the need for good governance of the Veterinary Services and Aquatic Animal
Health Services, including their public and private sector components, and to
encourage veterinarians, aquatic animal health professionals and other partners
to play their part in ensuring that products derived from aquaculture are
produced without posing a health risk to other animals or to humans. The
importance of partnerships between the public sector and the various private
sector stakeholders was underlined. Emphasis was also placed on the need for
the rational and prudent use of antimicrobial agents in the sector.
3.5. The Conference recommendations, presentations and abstracts are
available at: http://www.oie.int/en/conferences-events/all-oie-world-conferences/presentationsrecommendations.
4 Capacity building using the OIE PVS Pathway
4.1. The OIE continues its global initiative to support member countries
wishing to strengthen Veterinary Services and Aquatic Animal Health Services
(AAHS) using the OIE PVS Pathway.
4.2. A summary of OIE Members' engagement in the PVS Pathway may be found
at Annex 1.