OIE to consider Animal Welfare

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OFFICE INTERNATIONAL DES EPIZOOTIES: FIELD OF ACTIVITIES

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Source: OIE (Office International des Epizooties), 01 Mar 2002 [edited]

http://www.oie.int/eng/en_index.htm

OIE Extends its Activities in Food Safety and Animal Welfare

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The OIE is broadening and reinforcing its field of activities.

Subjects such as food safety and animal welfare now form an integral

part of its scientific and normative priorities.

 

a. Food safety:

 

Food safety is a priority requirement of consumers who wish to eat

risk-free food.It is incumbent upon the national and international

authorities

responsible for food safety to meet these expectations and to ensure

that all countries are in a position to obtain scientific and

technical information allowing them to take appropriate measures for

their socio-economic context.

 

The Codex Alimentarius, with a secretariat provided jointly by the

FAO and the WHO, is today the organization that proposes food safety

quality standards for adoption by its Member Countries. However, when

an animal disease could have an influence on a food product for

consumption, it is vital for the OIE to intervene upstream by

proposing norms, guidelines and recommendations for Member Countries

and the competent international organizations. These OIE activities

cover the safety procedures for raw materials during food production

and first-stage processing before they are placed on the market.

These measures form part of a food control strategy " from the farm to the

fork " .

In order to deal with these issues in more detail, the Director

General of the OIE will soon meet an ad hoc group of world-renowned

specialists that will make appropriate proposals to the OIE Member

Countries.

 

b.Animal welfare:

 

This domain, which includes establishing norms for animal protection

on the farm, during transport and at the time of slaughter, is a

growing source of concern amongst consumers and decision-makers.

Although animal welfare is not currently covered by the World Trade

Organization Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement, Member Countries

want to see strong scientific and normative involvement on the part

of the OIE in order to help them resolve potential bilateral disputes

and to dialogue with consumers and animal protection organizations.

In order to ensure that these problems are dealt with on a scientific

basis, an OIE ad hoc group appointed by the Director General will

meet from 2 to 4 April 2002. It is comprised of specialists from five

continents.

 

ProMED-mailpromed

[The OIE is an intergovernmental organization created by the

International Agreement of 25 January 1924 and located in Paris. In

May 2001, the OIE totaled 158 Member Countries.

One of the main missions of the OIE is to guarantee the sanitary

safety of world trade by developing sanitary rules for international

trade in animals and animal products. For this end, the OIE develops

normative documents relating to rules that Member Countries can use

to protect themselves from diseases, without setting up unjustified

sanitary barriers. The main normative works produced by the OIE are:

the International Animal Health Code, the Manual of Standards for

Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines, the International Aquatic Animal

Health Code and the Diagnostic Manual for Aquatic Animal Diseases.

The standards are adopted by the International Committee, which is

composed of the Chief Veterinary Officers/Directors of the Veterinary

Services of the respective member countries.

 

The World Trade Organization (WTO) deals with international trade

rules. Its Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS)

recognizes the OIE as the leading international standards-setting

organization for animal health and animal diseases that are

transmissible to humans (zoonosis). The cooperation between the two

organizations was formalized by exchanged letters on 4 May 1998; OIE

standards are recognized by the WTO as reference international sanitary

rules.

The announcement on the due broadening of OIE's scope seem to be a

needed adjustment to the significant changes in the world opinion

regarding food and its safety, and new attitudes towards animal

welfare issues. As clearly demonstrated during numerous food safety

events in all parts of the globe, with BSE as a prominent example --

" farm to fork " approach is indeed not a hollow phrase. Consumerís

concerns exercise a significant impact upon international trade in

animals and their products. Reorganization in food-safety control and

legislation bodies have become topics on the agenda of many

countries. Obviously, the new areas of OIE's activities will need

close cooperation with other organizations, such as the WHO, FAO and

WTO. - Mod. AS]............................as/lm