G/SPS/GEN/1394
9 March 2015
(15-1308)  Page: 1/4
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English/French/Spanish
 
62ND MEETING OF THE SPS COMMITTEE 
COMMUNICATION FROM THE WORLD ORGA NISATION FOR ANIMAL HEALTH (OIE) 
The following communication, received on 6 March 2015, is being circulated at the request of the 
OIE. 
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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 STANDARD S 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 83
rd 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. G/SPS/GEN/1394 
 
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  1.7.  In proposing these amendments, the Specia list 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 th e possibility of recycling "atypical" BSE. 
1.3  Harmonisation of the chapters on vector  borne disease (Infection with African horse 
sickness virus; Infection with bluetongue vi rus; 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 Co mmissions 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" ch apter, 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 vi rus" 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 recommend ations 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 develo ped 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 O I E  G l o b a l  C o n f e r e n c e  o n  A q u a t i c  A n i m a l  H e a l t h  w a s  h e l d  a t  H o  C h i  M i n h  C i t y  
(Viet Nam) from 20 to 22 January 2015. This Confer ence 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 ma nagement, prevention and control of aquatic 
animal diseases. G/SPS/GEN/1394 
 
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  3.2.  The Conference brought together over 250 ke y 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, wi th 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 perfor mance of Veterinary Services and/or Aquatic 
Animal Health Services. 
3.4.  The conference discussions served to achi eve 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 se ctor 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, pr esentations 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. 
 G/SPS/GEN/1394 
 
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  ANNEX 1 
A SUMMARY OF PROGRESS ON PVS PATHWAY EVALUATIONS 
PVS Evaluation missions: Stat e of play (January 2015) 
 OIE members PVS Evaluation 
requests 
received PVS Evaluation 
missions 
implemented Reports 
available for 
(restricted) 
distribution to 
Donors and 
Partners 
Africa 54 53 51 41 
Americas 29 25 23 18 
Asia, the Far East 
and Oceania 32 24 21 11 
Europe 53 18 16 12 
Middle East 12 13 11 5 
TOTAL 180 133 122 87 
 
PVS Gap Analysis: State of play (January 2015) 
 OIE members PVS Gap 
Analysis 
requests 
received PVS Gap 
Analysis 
missions 
implemented Reports 
available for 
(restricted) 
distribution to 
Donors and 
Partners 
Africa 54 46 43 25 
Americas 29 15 12 10 
Asia, the Far East 
and Oceania 32 18 13 7 
Europe 53 8 7 2 
Middle East 12 8 4 0 
TOTAL 180 95 79 44 
 
Veterinary Legislation: St ate of play (January 2015) 
 OIE members PVS Legislation 
mission requests 
received PVS Legislation 
missions 
implemented 
Africa 54 39 22 
Americas 29 7 6 
Asia, the Far East and 
Oceania 32 5 5 
Europe 53 5 2 
Middle East 12 4 4 
TOTAL 180 60 39 
 
 
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