G/SPS/GEN/1830  
 
7 October  2020 
(20-6872) Page: 1/4 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English/French/Spanish  
 
 
78TH MEETING OF THE SPS COMMITTEE  
COMMUNICATION FROM THE WORLD ORGANISATION FOR ANIMAL HEALTH (OIE)  
The following communication, received on 5 October  2020, is being circulated at the request of the 
OIE. 
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The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) is pleased to provide this report for the information 
of WTO Members attending the 7 8th meeting of the SPS Committee.  
1  COVID ACTIVITIES – OIE'S  RESPONSE  
1.1.  The COVID -19 pandemic has disrupted our communities and ways of life with devastating 
effects on society in nearly every country of the world. It has heavily challenged our food supply 
chains, livelihoods, economies as well as animal production s ystems. All these components are 
intrinsically linked.  
1.2.  The OIE has been working intensively with its network of experts and liaising closely with WHO 
and FAO, as well as its members  to better understand the virus and its emergence and to enhance 
the capaci ty of countries to respond to this multifaceted crisis. The activities of Veterinary Services 
contribute to addressing critical needs, such as food supply, which are heavily challenged in the 
current circumstances. In these times where solidarity is more i mportant than ever, Veterinary 
Services have also been supporting the response capacity of human health services in various ways.  
1.3.  All relevant information about OIE's response to this pandemic is available on the OIE 
COVID -19 Portal at: https://www.oie.int/en/scientific -expertise/specific -information -and-
recommendations/questions -and-answers -on-2019novel -coronavirus/oies -response/ . 
2  2020 TECHNICAL ITEM : "REQUIRED COMPETENCIES OF VETERINARY SERVICES IN THE 
CONTEXT OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES " 
2.1.  As a consequence of the postponement of the 2020 OIE General Session, the report of the 
Technical Item on "Required competencies of Veterinary Services in the context of international 
trade: opportunities and challenges" was published in the OIE News.  
2.2.  The Technical Item Report provides a rich source of information summarising th e international 
trade regulatory framework and their implications for Veterinary Services currently engaged in or 
aspiring to expand activities supporting trade.  
2.3.  The Report is composed of five distinct parts - which can be used as stand -alone documents. 
Each of them is presented with associated resources, which all together intend to assist OIE members 
to better implement OIE standards and secure international trade of animals and their products.  
a. PART I – The international trade regulatory framework : descri bes the WTO Agreements and 
OIE international standards as the framework to facilitate the negotiation between exporting 
and importing countries, and agreements on the sanitary requirements to be applied in the 
trade of live animal and animal products ; G/SPS/GEN/1830  
 
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  b. PART II – Role of Veterinary Services in international trade : describes the conditions required 
for trade between countries and the essential role of Veterinary Services ; 
c. PART III – Challenges faced by Veterinary Services in the context of international trade and 
examples of successful practices : presents the results of an extensive analysis of PVS reports 
and other data sources (OIE official status, self -declaration, WTO SPS notifications and 
Specific Trade Concerns) that identified key challenges faced by Veterinary Services in the 
context of international trade as well as successful practices ; 
d. PART IV – Veterinary Services' competencies to secure and facilitate international trade ; and 
PART V - OIE capacity -building activities to reinforce Veterinary Services capacity on trade : 
presents the new OIE Trade Competence Package development, as well as the future 
approach to OIE trainings by country typology (instead of by region), and the elaboration of 
a wide range of e -modules.  
2.4.  The complete report including th e five parts is available at: 
https://www.oie.int/en/conferences -events/2020 -world -assembly -of-the-oie-delegates/technical -
item/ . 
3  MONITORING IMPLEMENTATION OF OIE INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS – THE 
OBSERVATORY PROJECT  
3.1.  In May 2018, the World Assembly of OIE delegates adopted Resolution No. 36  recommending 
the establishment of an Observatory on the implementation of OIE standards by member countries . 
Through the Observatory, the OIE will be better able to identify and analyse the difficulties faced by 
OIE members  and better support them.  
3.2.  To explore the potential solutions for the design of the Observatory, in July 2018, the OIE 
entered into a specific collaboration with the Organisation for Economic Co -operation and 
Development (OECD), that pro vided an analysis of key features of implementation of OIE standards 
and, as well as a review of the existing mechanisms supporting the implementation, monitoring and 
evaluation of OIE standards. The final report of the OECD study was published in February  2020 and 
is available at: http://www.oecd.org/gov/oecd -study -on-the-world -organisation -for-animal -health -
oie-observatory -c88edbc d-en.htm . 
3.3.  The OIE has considered the OECD recommendations for the development of the next phase of 
the project, with the preparation of a roadmap to make the OIE Observatory operational. 
The deployment of the roadmap was started in 2020 with the launch of a pilot phase.  
3.4.  The pilot phase aims to test different aspects of the development of the OIE Observatory, such 
as the methodological approach, data collection and data analysis. The preparation of Part III of the 
2020 Technical Item on "Required competencie s of Veterinary Services in the context of international 
trade: opportunities and challenges" served as the first prototype for the pilot phase of the OIE 
Observatory.  
3.5.  For more information, refer to the OIE website at: https://www.oie.int/en/standard -
setting/overview/oie -observatory/ . 
4  THE OIE WORLD ANIMAL HEALTH INFORMATION SYSTEM (OIE -WAHIS)  
4.1.  The World Animal Health Information System (WAHIS) is an intrinsic and fundamental p art of 
the OIE's mandate and a vital tool for its 182 OIE members . WAHIS enables the collection and the 
dissemination of data on animal diseases of epidemiological significance in both domestic species of 
terrestrial and aquatic animals, and wildlife and i s vital for the global dissemination of information 
on animal disease events, including zoonotic pathogens. Since 2016 the OIE has embarked on a ten -
year process of modernising its existing animal health information system. The modernisation will 
constitut e a complete redesign of the platform and will incorporate a transdisciplinary and holistic 
approach to data collection, analysis and dissemination – not only addressing animal diseases – but 
also public health. The new platform will be called OIE -WAHIS.  G/SPS/GEN/1830  
 
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  4.2.  OIE-WAHIS will have a faster and more intuitive user -friendly system with new features, which 
will include extended data analytics, customisable data queries and enhanced mapping and data 
visualisation capabilities.  
4.3.  The new system will be launched in two releases. Release 1 will be delivered in October 2020, 
covering App configuration, immediate notification and follow up reports, user management, home 
page and online help, reports management, alerts App, dashboards, public interface, lifecycle, 
interoperability, six-monthly reports, GIS and mapping; Release 2 is anticipated for April 2021, 
covering annual report, wild annual report, local report, wild public interface and usage statistics.  
4.4.  For more information on the OIE -WAHIS Project see : https://www.oie.int/animal -health -in-
the-world/the -oie-wahis -project/ . 
5  GLOBAL CONTROL OF AFRICAN SWINE FEVER  
5.1.  The OIE, in collaboration with the FAO, launched a joint initiative for the global control of African 
swine fever (ASF) on July 2020, as a call to countries and partners to join forces in controlling the 
disease. The initiative is part of the joint Global Framework for the Progressive Control of 
Transboundary Animal Diseas es (GF -TADs) and aims to foster national, regional and global 
partnerships to strengthen control measures and minimise the impact of the disease.  
5.2.  A GF-TADs ASF Working Group has been established to coordinate, monitor and evaluate the 
implementation of the  initiative, and to contribute to the development and support of ASF control 
strategies at the global and regional levels.  
5.3.  An important activity is the development of new Guidelines on compartmentalisation for ASF. 
These are based on the general principles  of relevant OIE standards and will assist OIE members  in 
the application and validation of compartmentalisation, to minimise the impact of ASF through 
ensuring business continuity.  
5.4.  Detailed information is available on the GF -TADs website ( http://www.gf -tads.org/asf/asf/en/ ) 
and includes the operational plans listing the activities under this initiative.  
6  OIE ENDORSEMENT OF OFFICIAL CONTROL PROGRAMMES FOR DOG -MEDIATED RABIES  
6.1.  The OIE endorsement  of official control programmes for dog -mediated rabies is a new 
milestone in the journey towards the elimination of rabies -related human deaths. To support 
countries to compile documented evidence in a standard manner that demonstrate compliance with 
the requirements described Chapter 8.14, Infection with Rabies virus, in the Terrestrial Code, the 
OIE members , in 2019, adopted recommendations for the endorsement of national official control 
programme applications.  
6.2.  By compiling evidence that their national programmes comply with the requirements of OIE , 
it will be easier for national Veterinary Services to advocate for support from their governments and 
hence to progressively prevent and control the disease until they can eventually prove its absence 
from t heir territories.  
6.3.  The first programmes could be endorsed in 2021. Having OIE -endorsed control programmes 
will pave the way for countries to self -declare freedom from rabies  (https://www.oie.int/en/animal -
health -in-the-world/rabies -portal/controlling -rabies/ ). 
7  INFECTION WITH AVIAN INFLUENZA  
7.1.  OIE is in the process of updating its on avian influenza in both the Terrestrial Code and 
Terrestrial Manual to reflect n ew scientific information. Revised disease -specific chapters in the 
Terrestrial Code and Terrestrial Manual will be circulated for member  comment in the Code 
Commission and Biological Standards Commission September 2020 reports, respectively.  G/SPS/GEN/1830  
 
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  8  SWINE INFLUEN ZA 
8.1.  A recent report on the circulation of A(H1N1) subtype influenza viruses in the swine population 
in China with evidence of zoonotic potential has alerted the world to the pandemic risk associated 
with swine influenza viruses. Influenza in swine is not an  OIE-listed disease, and thus does not 
require reporting to the OIE by members . However, due to the pandemic risk associated with animal 
influenza viruses, there is a need for continued surveillance and risk assessment of emerging strains 
in swine populati ons. It is important that new and updated swine influenza surveillance data collected 
by countries are rapidly analysed and risk -assessed on a global scale to enable tracking how endemic 
and novel viruses are spreading. With the aim of facilitating and sup porting this, OFFLU (OIE -FAO 
Network of Expertise on Animal Influenza) advocates timely sharing of swine surveillance data from 
all regions to ensure that a One Health approach is applied to emerging influenza A viruses and that 
diagnostic tools are regula rly updated to detect a wide range of influenza viruses, including emergent 
strains. It is recommended that laboratories continue to conduct tests for swine influenza according 
to OIE international standards. Through the international partnership between O IE, FAO, WHO and 
contributing laboratories, emerging influenza variants that may be of public or animal health concern 
can be identified and flagged for further attention.  
9  ZOONOTIC TUBERCULOSIS  
9.1.  The OIE, together with the WHO, FAO and the International Unio n Against Tuberculosis and 
Lung Disease is engaged in the fight against zoonotic tuberculosis (zTB). They have developed a 
Roadmap that outlines a plan for eliminating zTB in humans including the control of tuberculosis 
(TB) in livestock.  
9.2.  For further infor mation on the zTB roadmap refer to:  
https://www.oie.int/fileadmin/Home/eng/Our_scientific_expertise/docs/pdf/Tuberculosis/Roadmap
_zoonotic_TB.pdf . 
9.3.  The reduction of TB in livestock, and consequently the reduction of zTB in humans, has been 
accomplished in economically developed countries through measures such as test -and-slaughter of 
infected animals. In this strategy, currently the o nly one accepted for international trade of live 
animals and animal products, livestock are periodically screened using the tuberculin skin test, and 
reactors are slaughtered. However, for cultural and socio -economic reasons, this strategy is not 
acceptabl e in rural India and Africa, where the greatest burden of zTB is borne by the least privileged.  
9.4.  The OIE convened an ad hoc Group who met in September 2020 to develop recommendations 
on TB control strategies in livestock other than test -and-slaughter, which  could lead to a revision of 
international TB requirements for trading livestock in the future. The ad hoc Group also prepared an 
expert opinion on whether M. tuberculosis should be listed as a notifiable species of the 
Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex i n the OIE Terrestrial Code. The ad hoc Group's report will be 
considered by the Scientific and Code Commissions at their February 2021 meetings.  
10  NEW OIE PUBLICATION  
10.1.   The OIE recently published a new volume of the OIE Scientific and Technical Review titled 
"Ensuring safe trade in animals and animal products " (2020, Vol. 39 (1) edited by WTO colleagues 
C. Wolff and A. Hamilton ). 
Trade always starts with a negotiation, and a negotiation proceeds best if both parties 
have a common framework through which to unde rstand each other's expectations. 
The WTO–OIE framework of trade agreements and international standards serves as 
the basis for the exchange of information between exporting and importing countries. 
The intention of this issue is to present a series of articles that assist OIE and 
WTO Members and the international community interested in trade in animals and 
animal products to better understand the frameworks created by the WTO trade 
agreements and OIE international standards, both through the discussion  of the theory 
underpinning these standards/agreements and by providing examples of their 
implementation.  
http://web.oie.int/boutique/index.php?page=ficpr od&id_produit=1797&fichrech=1&la
ng=en  
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