. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/524 
25 October 2004 
 (04-4510) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   Spanish 
  
 
REPORT ON ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN BY THE INTERNATIONAL 
REGIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR PLANT AND 
ANIMAL HEALTH (OIRSA) 
 
Committee Meeting of 25 to 27 October 2004
 
 
  The following communication is being circulated  at the request of the International Regional 
Organization for Plant and Animal Health (OIRSA).  
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I. TRAINING AND DISSEMINATION IN THE AREA OF AGRICULTURAL HEALTH 
AND TRADE 
1. Participation, by means of technical conferences, in the "First Training Course for Trainers on 
Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs)", organized in Honduras by the Joint Institute for Food Safety 
and Applied Nutrition (JIFSAN) of the Univer sity of Maryland, the US Food and Drug 
Administration (FDA) and OIRSA. 
2. Organization of the First Workshop on "Upda ting of the Diagnosis of the Food Safety 
Situation in El
 Salvador", with the particip ation of delegates from the four government institutions 
with statutory authority in this area. 
3. Organization of a training workshop on Good Ag ricultural Practices (GPAs) with producers 
and agro-exporters from the Association for Lo cal Projects and Initiatives for Regional Self-
Development in Honduras (PILARH) and the Pa namanian Association of Exporters of Non-
Traditional Agricultural Products (GANTRAP) and officials of the Ministry of Agricultural 
Development (MIDA) . 
II. TECHNOLOGICAL MASTER'S DEGREE IN SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY 
MEASURES 
4. Development of Module VI:   Agricultural Quarantine , the objective of which is familiarity 
with the role of agricultural quarantine in intern ational trade from the legal and methodological points 
of view, and Module VII:   Agribusiness and agro-industrial franchises , the objective of which is 
knowledge of the development and operati on of agro-industrial franchise systems. 
III. SUPPORT FOR THE PREVENTION, CONTROL AND ERADICATION OF PESTS 
AND DISEASES 
5. Presentation of the proposal for a regional p oultry health programme to the Board of 
Directors of the Federation of Poultry Farmers of Central America (FEDAVICAC). G/SPS/GEN/524 
Page 2  
 
 6. Involvement in strategy adaptation for and the management, funding and implementation of 
the Classical Swine Fever Eradication Plan in El Salvador by 2009. 
7. Profile management follow-up for the project "S trengthening of the institutional capacity of 
animal health services in Central America" with in the framework for cooperation between the Japan 
International Cooperation Agency and the Central American Integration System (JICA-SICA).   
8. Participation in the OIE symposium on Newcastle  disease and avian influenza in the context 
of the XVIII Central American and Caribbean Poultry Congress. 
9. Updating of the Emergency Plan for the Control and Eradication of Classical Swine Fever in 
Central America, Belize and Panama. 
IV. STRENGTHENING OF NATIONAL SANITARY INSTITUTIONS WITH A VIEW 
TO FACILITATING TRADE 
10. Within the framework of the Regional Project for the Support of Agricultural Trade, jointly 
implemented by OIRSA and the Inter-American  Development Bank (IDB), regional advisory 
activities were provided and completed on the following:  (a) Development of Harmonized 
Legislation on Food Inspection Procedures a nd Good Production and Manufacturing Practices;  
(b) Identification of Phytosanitary Service Structures, Procedures and Mechanisms;  and 
(c) Identification of Sanitary and Phytosanitary  Service Structures, Procedures and Mechanisms. 
11. Participation in the Fourth Workshop, held in  Guatemala, of the Coordinating Group of the 
Inter-institutional Technical Cooperation Project for the establishment of pilot areas free from and with low prevalence of fruit flies, using integr ated management, including the Sterile Insect 
Technique (SIT), in Central Amer ica and Panama (TCP/RLA/5/045). 
V. INTER-INSTITUTIONAL COORDINATION 
12. In the face of the human and avian influenza pandemic, the Technical Director of Animal 
Health has approached the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in Washington with a view to coordinating regional animal epidem iological surveillance activities. 
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