WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/1000 
8 March 2010 
 (10-1231) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English/ 
 French/  Spanish 
 
  
RELEVANT ACTIVITIES OF THE WORLD ORGANISATION FOR  
ANIMAL HEALTH (OIE) 
 
Report to the 47
th Meeting of the SPS Committee  
  
 The following communication, received on 5 March 2010, is being circulated at the request of 
the OIE.  
_______________ 
  
 The OIE is pleased to provide this update for the information of SPS Committee Members.  The key topics covered in this paper are devel opments in the OIE’s standard setting work on 
terrestrial animals and their products, an update on OIE activities supporting the veterinary services of 
OIE Members using the OIE PVS Tool for their compliance with international standards and 
veterinary education. 
 
Terrestrial Animal Health Standards Commission (Code Commission) 
 
1. The Code Commission met on 8-12 February 2010 to prepare new/revised Code Chapters for 
adoption at the 78
th General Session, 23-28 May 2010 c onsidering OIE Member comments. 
A. TRADE IN ANIMAL PRODUCTS ("COMMODITIES ") 
2. The Code Commission endorsed the report of the ad hoc  Group on trade in animal products 
("commodities") which met on 15 October and appreciated the work done by experts. 
3. The review paper "Qualitative assess ment of the commodity risk factor for spread of foot-
and-mouth disease associated with international trad e in deboned beef" is available at the reorganized 
webpage on the commodity based approach for both terrestrial and aquatic animal products 
(http://www.oie.int/eng/normes/en_commodity.htm ). 
B. PRIVATE STANDARDS  
4. The ad hoc  Group on Private Standards for Sanitary Safety and Animal Welfare met on 9-
10 November 2009 to review the results of a questionnaire sent to Members and relevant 
organizations and to prepare recommendations for future action by the OIE.   The Executive Summary 
of the report is available at: 
http://www.oie.int/eng/normes/ en_executive%20summary.pdf . 
5. As most of the 68 OIE Members responding to the questionnaire recommended that the OIE 
work more closely with private standard setting organi zations in an effort to avoid negative effects of G/SPS/GEN/1000 
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  private standards, the OIE convened a meeting with pr ivate organizations, with the participation of the 
WTO SPS Secretariat, on 16 February to exchange information and consider possible next steps. 
C. F
OOT AND MOUTH DISEASE (FMD)   
6. The OIE will develop a procedure for the recogn ition of National Strategies for FMD control.  
An ad hoc  Group will be convened under the Scientific Commission for Animal Diseases (SCAD) to 
elaborate rules and procedures for Members wishing to  seek recognition of their national strategies, to 
encourage them to take steps towards the contro l and eradication of FMD in their territories. 
7. The Code Commission proposed the application of the compartmentalization concept in the 
chapter dealing with foot and mouth disease (FMD).  The objective of compartmentalization may be to aid disease management and control or, on the basis of bilateral consultations  with trading partners, 
to facilitate trade.  The OIE does not intend currently to grant official recognition for FMD (or other 
disease) free compartments, as currently managed for countries and zones.  
D. S
ALMONELLOSIS AND BIOSECURITY PROCEDURES IN POULTRY PRODUCTION  
8. The Code Commission proposed some amendments  of the chapter on Salmonellosis.  Noting 
that standards on salmonellosis are also under deve lopment by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, 
the OIE will continue participating actively in the drafting and revision of the Guidelines according to 
the Codex procedures.  The OIE continues to work on a new text that addresses hygiene and 
biosecurity practices to avoid prob lems in poultry on farm and r esultant foodborne illness in humans. 
Update on OIE PVS activities and PVS Follow-up activities 
 
A. OIE  PVS  EVALUATIONS  
9. As part of the OIE global initiative for Good G overnance of Veterinary Services, and at a 
Member’s request, the OIE may conduct an evalua tion of the quality of a Member’s Veterinary 
Services using the OIE PVS Tool (OIE Tool for the Evaluation of Performance of Veterinary Services), PVS Gap analysis and follow up missi ons to help strengthen the compliance of key 
elements of the veterinary infrastructure, including  veterinary legislation, with the international 
quality standards of the OIE.  
10. The current status of OIE PVS evaluations is summarized in annex 1.  To the end of 2009, 
100 requests have been received and 91% of the missions have been done.  
11. In December 2009, the OIE organized a workshop to collect feedback from experts involved 
in the PVS activities and a meeting of the ad hoc  Group on Evaluation of Veterinary Services.  The 
Code Commission endorsed the proposed new critic al competencies (management of resources and 
operations, animal welfare) and amendment of some critical competencies.  The 5
th edition of the OIE 
PVS Tool will be published later this year. 
12. The OIE has addressed the specialized needs fo r the evaluation of aquatic animal health 
services, with a pilot mission to evaluate the aquatic  animal health services of a member.  Based on 
this experience and discussion in the ad hoc  group, the OIE will make available on request a modified 
tool for the evaluation of aquatic animal health services. 
B. PVS  GAP ANALYSIS  
13. This is a quantification of needs and the corresponding indicative budget to address 
compliance for priority critical competencies discuss ed with the country concerned and based on the  G/SPS/GEN/1000 
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  report of the initial PVS evaluation of the country .  The OIE, working in close cooperation with 
national policy makers, donors and other partner or ganizations, conducts PVS Gap Analysis missions 
as the basis for the preparation of investment pr ogrammes, following an initial PVS evaluation.  The 
current status of PVS Gap Analysis missions is summarized in Annex 2. 
C. STRENGTHENING VETERINARY LEGISLATION  
14. As reported at the previous meeting, the OIE continues to work on strengthening veterinary 
legislation.  The current status of OIE legi slation missions is summarized in Annex 3. 
15. To identify needs and tools to assist Members in  modernizing their veterinary legislation, the 
OIE will hold the First OIE Global Conference on Vete rinary Legislation, in Djerba, Tunisia on 7-
9 December 2010.  Please see http://www.oie.int/eng/A_LEG_VET2010/Home_eng.htm  
Veterinary education 
 
16. The OIE is considering the issue of initial and continuous veterinary education as part of its 
commitment to encouraging its members to strengt hen animal health policies and activities of their 
national Veterinary Services.  With this in mi nd, the OIE held a Global Conference on Veterinary 
Education "Evolving veterinary education for a saf er world" on 12-14 October 2009.  As one of the 
outcomes of the conference, the OIE will convene an expert group (29 June – 1 July 2010) to address 
the recommendations of the conference. 
17. The key recommendation for the expert group to address is (#26): 
• That the OIE convene an expert group, with the participation of invited deans, to conduct an 
in depth global review, with a world wide sc ope, of the current approaches to veterinary 
education taking into account current and futu re expectations of the day-one graduated 
veterinarians and examine whether approaches to , and structures for, veterinary education 
should be modified to prod uce better equipped profession. 
• The expert group will also be in charge of drafting guidelines listed in recommendation n° 1 
and contribute to OIE support to recommendations n°3, 4, 14 and 16. 
Recommendation 1 
 
That the OIE develop recommendations for Veterina ry Education Establishments (VEE) on a core 
curriculum model that includes tho se key competencies of veterinarians that are required to perform 
the necessary OIE and public policy tasks, including t hose defined in the OIE terrestrial and aquatic 
animal health codes and takes into account new threats, opportunities and societal expectations. 
 Recommendation 3  
That VEE, taking into account the recommendati ons of the OIE and specific/regional national 
needs/circumstances, define and implement a co re curriculum model that ensures graduate 
veterinarians to have the day-one competencies need ed by a veterinarian to perform the required OIE 
tasks including delivery of national veterinary ser vices.  This includes knowledge on governance, 
veterinary legislation and basic management.  These competencies should focus on capacity for 
analysis, and adaptation to complex situations ra ther than on encyclopaedic knowledge of specific 
issues.  
 
 G/SPS/GEN/1000 
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  Recommendation 4 
 
That the World Veterinary Association (WVA) an d other professional veterinary bodies examine, 
with the support of the OIE, how initial and continui ng veterinary education curricula can best meet 
societal expectations for safeguards for public h ealth, safe food, and prevention and mitigation of 
transboundary diseases complying with OIE recommendations at a global level. 
 
Recommendation 14 
 
That the OIE, WVA and other national, regional a nd international veterinary associations examine 
how to improve the public perception of the importance of veterinary activities for society as a whole, 
and convince governments and/or in ternational donors of the need to better finance initial and 
continuing veterinary education as a Global Public Good.  
Recommendation 16 
 That the responsible national, regional and local veterinary authorities support the development and 
implementation of programmes to evaluate the c ontinuing education of veterinarians in their 
respective jurisdictions taking into account OIE PVS tool criteria.  
 
18. The complete recommendation of the Conference may be found at: 
http://www.oie.int/eng/A_DEANS2009/Conclu sions%20and%20recommendations_FINAL_30%20n
ovembre%2009_ANG_b.pdf  
 
19. The OIE Focal Point for this work is Dr Sarah Kahn (s.kahn@oie.int )  G/SPS/GEN/1000 
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  ANNEX 1 
 
PVS Evaluation Missions – (As at 20 January 2010) 
 
Region Official requests Missions completed Reports available 
Africa 44 39 31 
Americas 17 17 12 
Asia/Pacific 15 13 10 
Europe 11 11 3 
Middle-East 13 11 3 
Total 100 91 59 
 Official requests: 
 Africa (44): Algeria, Benin, Botswana,  Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Côte 
D’Ivoire, Congo (DR), Djibouti, Egypt , Equatorial Guinea , Eritrea,  Gabon , 
Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho,  Liberia (non OIE 
member), Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, 
Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal,  Sierra Leone, Somalia, 
Sudan, Swaziland,  Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe 
Americas (17): Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colomb ia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El 
Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, 
Peru, Uruguay 
Asia/Pacific (15): Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Korea (PDR), Laos, 
Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Viet Nam 
Europe (11): Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgar ia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, 
Romania, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan 
Middle-East (13): Afganistan, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait,  Lebanon, Oman, Palestinian National 
Authority  (non OIE member) , Turkey, Qatar,  Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Aarab 
Emirates, Yemen 
 
Italics:  Completed missions  G/SPS/GEN/1000 
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  ANNEX 2 
 
PVS Gap Analysis Missions – (As at 20 January 2010) 
 
 
Region Official requests Missions completed 
Africa 24 11 
Americas 6 0 
Asia/Pacific 8 1 
Europe 3 2 
Middle-East 3 3 
Total 44 17 
  G/SPS/GEN/1000 
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  ANNEX 3 
 
Legislation Missions – (As at 20 January 2010) 
 
 
Region Official requests Missions completed 
Africa 13 4 
Americas 0 0 
Asia/Pacific 3 3 
Europe 2 1 
Middle-East 4 1 
Total 22 9 
 
 Official requests:  Africa (13): Benin, Burkina Faso,  Congo (DR) , Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau,  Madagascar, 
Malawi, Mauritius, Nigeria, Togo , Uganda, Zambia 
Asia/Pacific (3): Bhutan, Cambodia, Vie Nam  
Europe (2):  Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan 
Middle-East (4):  Afghanistan, Kuwait, Lebanon,  United Arab Emirates 
 
 
Italics:  Completed missions 
 
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