WORLD TRADE G/SPS/GN/9
8November 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-4754)
Original:English/French/Spanish Committee onSanitary andPhytosanitary Measures
STATEMENT BYTHE OFFICE INTERNATIONAL DESEPIZOOTIES
ATTHE MEETING HELD ON8AND 9OCTOBER 1996
Theinvolvement oftheOffice international desEpizooties inmatters connected withworld
trade concerns thenormative sector andtechnical assistance todeveloping countries.
Normative activities
1. Since theSPSCommittee meeting on29and30May1996, theOIEhasorganised further
meetings ofitsSpecialist Commissions andWorking Groups inParis. TheInternational Animal Health
Code Commission, theFootandMouth Disease andOther Epizootics Commission andtheStandards
CommissionmetinSeptember1996andtheWorkingGrouponInformaticsandEpidemiologyinOctober
1996. TheInternational Animal Health Code Commission prepared drafttextswithaviewtoamending
thetextoftheInternational Animal Health Code,andinparticular thechapters dealing withfootand
mouth disease (FMD), bovine spongiform encephalopathy andequine influenza. TheCommission also
agreed totheproposals made byanAdhocGroup onCategorisation ofAnimal Diseases, andrequested
theDirector General oftheOIEtoconvene another AdhocGroup toconsider thesanitary conditions
thatshould govern international tradeinnonhuman primates. TheFootandMouth Disease andOther
Epizootics Commission concentrated onexamining thelatest applications made byMember Countries
withaviewtoallorpartoftheirterritory being recognised asfreefromfootandmouth disease. The
Commission alsodefined aprocedure toallow alistofFMD freecountries tobekeptup-to-date, subject
totheapproval oftheInternational Committee. Aninternational meeting tocoordinate epidemiological
research andinvestigations ontransmissible spongiform encephalopathies, towhich alltheMember
Countries wereinvited, wasorganised under theauspices ofthisCommission. During itsdeliberations,
theStandards Commission selected newinternational reference laboratories forvarious animal diseases,
reviewed progress oninternational standardisation ofdiagnostic testsandfinalised guidelines on
evaluating thequality ofalaboratory. TheCommission alsofinished preparing thethird edition of
theManual ofStandards forDiagnostic TestsandVaccines ,which should beavailable atthebeginning
of1997. TheWorking Group onInformatics andEpidemiology discussed actions which theOIEshould
implement inorder tocollect animal health dataofahigher standard andtodevelop theelectronic
distribution oftheinformation atitsdisposal onanimal health andstandards forinternational trade.
TheGroup alsoestablished aprogramme ofwork todraw updetailed guidelines onriskanalysis.
Technical assistance
2. Following thereport oftheOIESecond Strategic Planning Group, theInternational Committee
decided inMay1996thattheonlyseminars andtraining courses thatwould befinanced bytheOffice
during thenextfiveyears would bethose concerned withdisease information systems, methods of
animal disease surveillance anddiagnosis, andharmonisation oftheregistration andcontrol ofvaccines
andchemoprophylactic products. Inaddition, theCommittee recommended thatthese courses and
seminars bedeveloped onthebasisofregional initiatives. Inconsequence, theOIEwillbeparticipating,
through theintermediary ofitsspecialist Collaborating Centre, intraining courses onveterinary drug
./.G/SPS/GN/9
Page2
registration andcontrol (1996: Bogor [Indonesia] -1997: NewDelhi [India], Niamey [Niger]). The
OIEwillalsobeproviding thesecretariat forthe‘International Technical Consultation onVeterinary
Drug Registration ’andchairing the‘International Cooperation onHarmonisation ofTechnical
Requirements forRegistration ofMedicinal Products ’.Intheepidemiological field, anassociation
isalsobeing sought withspecialist Collaborating Centres. OnesuchCentre already exists inSouth
Africa andasecond Centre, located inItaly, islikely tobedesignated inMay1997. Discussions are
alsounder waywithaNorth American country, withaview tocovering theAmericas region. The
activities undertaken bythese Centres willbeconducted inconsultation withFAO andWHO, which
haveestablished training programmes inthisfield. Furthermore, inorder tocontrol animal diseases
thatpresent anobstacle tointernational trade, theOIEalsoprovides specific assistance todeveloping
countries thatsowish. Thisisthecaseforthecountries ofSouth-East Asia(Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, thePhilippines, Thailand andVietnam), which benefit fromtheFMD control programme
conducted bytheOIEincollaboration withother international organisations andcooperation agencies.
Itislikewise thecaseforMadagascar (control ofTeschen disease andtuberculosis). Other examples
ofspecific requests include aidinorganising animal disease surveillance systems inAfrica (Angola,
Burkina Faso, Uganda) andbrucellosis control intheMiddle East(FAO/OIE/WHO programme).