WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/708 
26 June 2006 
 (06-3095) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English/ 
 French/  Spanish 
 
   
ISSUES OF INTEREST TO THE SPS COMMITTEE DISCUSSED BY THE OIE 
INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE AT THE 74
th GENERAL SESSION 
 
Communication from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE)  
 
 
 
 The following communication, received on 22 June 2006, is being circulated at the request of 
the OIE.  
_______________ 
 
 
1. The 74
th General Session of the International Co mmittee of the OIE, the World Organization 
for Animal Health, was held at the OIE h eadquarters (Paris, France) from 21-26 May 2006. 
2. Of the OIE membership of 167 Member Countries, 142 countries or territories were 
represented by their delegates, and 40 internati onal or regional organizat ions, institutions and 
federations also attende d the General Session. 
3. Issues relevant to the work of the SPS Co mmittee discussed by the OIE International 
Committee during the General Session were as follows: 
4. The Director General of the OIE recalled that the Forth Strategic Plan of the OIE which had 
been adopted by the International Committee in May 2005 made provisions for the strengthening of 
the activities of the OIE Regional Representations a nd the establishment of sub-regional offices.  He 
reported that the Forth Strategic Plan reaffirmed the central role of the Veterinary Services of Member 
Countries and their Delegates to the OIE in fulfilling the objectives of the organisation and considered 
capacity building to be the over-riding priority  of the work programmes of the OIE Regional 
Representations.  He also reported that a new flexible tool, the Performance, Vision and Strategy  
(PVS) Instrument , had been updated for use in the evaluati on of the Veterinary Services of Member 
Countries. 
5. Two major technical items were presented and discussed - ‘Future approaches needed to 
ensure that veterinary education meets societal de mands’, and ‘Economic and social justification of 
investment in animal health and zoonoses’.  The International Committee adopted resolutions on these 
technical items. 
 G/SPS/GEN/708 
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  6. International Organisations which had si gned a Cooperation Agreement with the OIE 
(including the WTO, WHO, World Bank, FAO, IDF and ILRI) made presentations on their work programmes, stressing their close relationship with the OIE. In response to the presentation by the 
representative of the WTO, the Director General emphasised the importance of a permanent dialogue 
at the national level between the Chief Veteri nary Officers and representatives on the SPS Committee 
so as to avoid the adoption of different positions. The International Committee approved the terms of 
new agreements signed by the Director General on be half of the OIE with the Arab Organization for 
Agriculture Development, the Economic Community of West African States, the World Association 
of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, the Inte rnational Committee of Military Medicine and the 
International Egg Commission.  
Report on the Animal Production Food Safety work programme 
7. The Chairman of the Working Group on Animal Production Food Safety (Prof. S. Slorach) 
presented the activities of the Working Group. These included: 
•  Drafting of a chapter for the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code (hereafter referred to as 
the Terrestrial Code ) on "Identification and Traceability of Live Animals"; 
•  Development of a document on the "Coope ration between the Codex Alimentarius 
Commission and the OIE on food safety throughout the food chain"; 
•  Preparation of an appendix for the Terrestrial Code  on "Guidelines for the Control of 
Biological Hazards of Animal Health and Public Health Importance through Ante- and 
Post-Mortem Meat Inspection"; 
•  Coordinating the OIE work on standards on animal feeding;  
•  Coordinating the OIE work on the revision of the OIE model certificates;  and 
•  Coordinating the OIE work on the revision of standards on salmonellosis in poultry to 
complement the ongoing work of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (CCFH). 
8. The Working Group revised its work programme, which for 2006/2007 includes:  
•  horizontal issues (animal identification and traceability, certification, antimicrobial 
resistance, alternative approaches to risk management of zoonoses, good farming practices 
-reduction of chemical hazards- ,guidelines for animal feeding); 
•  disease-specific texts (brucellosis, salmonellosis); 
•  strengthening the relationship between OIE and Codex;  and  
•  development of new texts (role and functi onality of veterinary services in food safety). 
Report on the Animal Welfare work programme 
 9. The Chairman of the Animal Welfare Working Group (Dr D. Bayvel) reported that the 
Working Group had met for the forth time in Sept ember 2005, a meeting which was also attended by 
experts from the International Meat Secretariat,  the International Dairy Federation, and the 
International Federation of Agricultural Producers. 
  G/SPS/GEN/708 
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  10. At its September 2005 meeting, the Worki ng Group agreed on the following priorities: 
•  Ongoing revision of guidelines adopted in 2005 for land trans port, sea transport, slaughter 
for human consumption and killing for disease control purposes; 
•  Development of aquatic animal welfare guidelin es for the transport of fish by land, sea, the 
killing of fish and the slaughter of fish for human consumption; 
•  Supporting international animal welfare e ducational initiatives via regional coordination 
with the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA);  and 
•  Ongoing communications initiatives including the promulgation and marketing of "Animal 
Welfare: Global Issues, Trends and Challenges" in the OIE Scientific and Technical Review Series. 
•  Further progress with the following new areas of  strategic priority agreed at the 73rd OIE 
General Session: 
- Companion animal welfare – stray animal control (ad hoc group has met) 
- Wildlife and zoo animal welfare – harvesting/ culling (scoping paper 
commissioned) 
- Laboratory animal welfare – housing, animal use in regulatory testing and 
alternatives to animal use (October 2006 m eeting in conjunction with International 
Council for Laboratory Animal Scien ce (ICLAS) and involving all major 
international stakeholders) 
- Terrestrial farm animal welfare – housi ng/ production (initially generic) (scoping 
paper completed) 
•  Monitoring EU Welfare Quality Project (www.welfarequality.net);  and 
•  Consolidating, and further developing, rela tionships with international stakeholders. 
Report of the Scientific Commission for Animal Diseases 
11. The President of the Scientific Commission for Animal Diseases reviewed the Commission’s 
activities in 2005.  These included:  
•  submission of a new Terrestrial Code  draft appendix on guidelines for the surveillance of 
bluetongue and a revised draft Terrestrial Code  chapter on bovine brucellosis to the 
Terrestrial Animal Health Standards Co mmission for Member Countries’ comments; 
•  approving the reports of the Expert  Group on BSE Diagnostic Methods, the ad hoc  group 
on Antigen and Vaccine Banks for FMD, and the ad hoc  group on Emerging Zoonoses; 
•  reviewing Terrestrial  Code appendices on "General guidelines for animal health 
surveillance", and specific disease surveilla nce guidelines for foot and mouth disease 
(FMD) and for classical swine fever (CSF);  and 
•  reviewing the reports of the ad hoc  group on Evaluation of Country Status for FMD, 
rinderpest, contagious bovine pleuropneumonia and bovine spongiform encephalopathy 
(BSE). G/SPS/GEN/708 
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  12. The Commission agreed with the ad hoc  group on Epidemiology with regard to zoning and 
regionalisation that, in the event of a disease outbr eak in a disease-free zone in a country comprising 
several zones with similar status, the disease-free stat us of all the zones with similar status in the 
country should be withdrawn pendi ng confirmation from the Official De legate of that country that 
sufficient sanitary measures are in operation to preven t the entry of virus into the other non-affected 
zones.   
13. The Commission also considered the need to  facilitate and expedite the decision-making 
process to allocate freedom from FMD following an outbreak. The OIE International Committee 
mandated the Commission to propose the appropriate modifications to the Terrestrial Code  (see 
appendix 1).  
Report of the Terrestrial Animal Health Sta ndards Commission - adoption of new measures in 
the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code 
14. The President of the Terrestrial Animal Hea lth Standards Commission recalled the significant 
changes to the meeting timetable of the two Code Commissions in that the OIE had reverted to a two-
year cycle for the preparation and adoption of sta ndards, except in the case of international crises.  
15. He recalled the commitments made to Memb er Countries at the 73rd General Session 
regarding progress on some important texts whic h had been adopted on the understanding that 
outstanding Member Countries’ comments would be addressed. This included surveillance for BSE 
(which would allow the official recognition of the BSE status under the new chapter), bluetongue 
surveillance, the newly adopted standards on animal  welfare, the ‘under study’ parts of the avian 
influenza chapter, and compartmentalisation. He also noted recommenda tions arising from OIE 
Regional Commissions and other OIE meetings, incl uding suggestions for improving the chapters on 
Veterinary Services  in the Terrestrial Code .  He believed that it had been another productive year, 
with 26 new or revised texts being submitted for adoption and several others in preparation. 
16. The OIE International Committee adopted 25 draft texts proposed by the Terrestrial  Code 
Commission, including on the following subjects: 
•  general definitions – including va rious animal welfare definitions; 
•  revised chapters on evaluation of veterina ry services and on guidelines for evaluation of 
veterinary services – to provide a procedure for evaluation of Veterinary Services  
facilitated by the OIE experts, to recommend the use of the PVS Instrument;  
•  zoning and compartmentalization; 
•  a revised list of terrestrial animal diseases – to address the importance of Member 
Countries notifying findings of highly pathogenic avian influenza in wild birds; 
•  revised FMD chapter and revised appendix on FMD surveillance; 
•  revised BSE chapter – to clarify required surv eillance in relation to BSE status, to update 
commodities specific recommendations, notably on gelatine; 
•  revised appendix on BSE surveillance – to embody "maintenance surveillance"; 
•  revised CSF chapter – to incorporate the concept of compartmentalization;  G/SPS/GEN/708 
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  •  revised avian influenza chapter – to modify the definition of "poultry" to clarify the 
intention to include all domesticated  poultry including backyard birds; 
•  new appendix on avian influenza inactivation guidelines; 
•  revised four animal welfare guidelines (land transport, sea transport, slaughter, and killing 
for disease control); 
•  new appendix on ante- and post- mortem inspection; 
•  new appendix on animal identification and traceability;  and 
•  new appendix on disposal of dead animals. 
Report of the Biological Standards Commission 
17. The President of the Biological Standards Commission  reported the Commission’s activities 
which included the review of reports entitled ‘A review  of tests available for diagnosis of tuberculosis 
in non-bovine species,’ and "Assessment of Classical Swine Fever Diagnostics and Vaccine 
Performance’.  Both reports were endorsed for publication in the OIE Scientific and Technical 
Review . 
18. He reported on the establishment of the OIE/ FAO Network of Expertise on Avian Influenza 
(“OFFLU”): the main activities of OFFLU in 2005 were  to set up the network, to agree the Terms of 
Reference, to exchange isolates a nd sequences and to set up a website: http://www.offlu.net .  
19. He noted that the First International Conf erence for OIE Reference Laboratories and 
Collaborating Centres would be held in Decemb er 2006 in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil, 
which would provide a useful channel for inte r-laboratory collaboration and mutual support. 
20. Three chapters of the Manual of Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines for Terrestrial Animals  were 
amended: Principles of validation of diagnostic assays for infectious diseases (bringing it into line 
with the new OIE validation template); Principl es of veterinary vaccine production (incorporating 
updates to regulatory requirements of certain Memb er Countries); and FMD.  As well, a "List of 
Antimicrobials of Veterinary Importance"  that had been compiled by the ad hoc  Group on 
Antimicrobial Resistance was adopted. 
Adoption of new provisions in the OIE Aquatic Animal Health Code 
21. The OIE International Committee approved so me additions and amendments to the Aquatic 
Code , including revised chapters and a ppendices on the following subjects:  
• definitions; 
• disease listing criteria; 
• diseases listed by the OIE; 
• epizootic haematopoietic necrosis; 
• infectious haematopoietic necrosis;  
• spring viraemia of carp; 
• viral haemorrhagic septicaemia; G/SPS/GEN/708 
Page 6  
 
  • infectious salmon anaemia; 
• epizootic ulcerative syndrome;  
• red sea bream iridoviral disease;  
• infection with Bonamia ostreae; 
• infection with Bonamia exitiosa;  
• infection with Haplosporidium nelsoni;  
• infection with Mart eilia refringens; 
• infection with Mikrocytos mackini;  
• infection with Perkinsus marinus; 
• infection with Perkinsus olseni;  and 
• infection with Xenohaliotis californiensis.  
22. Chapters on three mollusc diseases, i.e. infection with Mikrocytos roughleyi, infection with 
Haplosporidium costale and Marteilia sydneyi , have been deleted from this edition. 
23. As well, the Aquatic Animal Health Standard s Commission continued to work closely with 
the Terrestrial Animal Health Standards Commission to ensure that approaches being taken by both 
Commissions in their work were closely harmoni sed, for example on criteria on disease notification 
and on the concept of compartmentalisation.  
Recognition of the status of Member Countries in regard to rinderpest, FMD, BSE and CBPP 
24. Based on the recommendations of the Scientif ic Commission for Animal Diseases, the OIE 
International Committee asked the Director Gene ral of the OIE to publish the list of Member 
Countries recognised as FMD free (see appendix 2), the list of Member Countries recognised as BSE free or provisionally free (see appendix 3), the list of Member Countries recognised as free from 
rinderpest infection (see appendix 4) and the list of Member Countries recognised as free from 
contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (see appendix 5). 
*      * 
* 
  G/SPS/GEN/708 
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  Appendix 1  
RESOLUTION No. XXX 
Procedure to Expedite the Process for the Rec ognition of a Foot and Mouth Disease Free Zone 
during an Outbreak of FMD in a Member Country 
CONSIDERING THAT 
1. The International Committee has adopted a pro cedure for establishing a list of Member Countries 
and zones within their territories recognised as free of FMD according to the provisions of 
chapter 2.2.10. of the Terrestrial Animal Health Code (the Terrestrial Code), 
2. New Member Countries and zones recognised as FMD free are added to the list annually by 
resolution at the General Session of the Intern ational Committee after a period of consultation 
with the interested Member Country, the Scie ntific Commission for Animal Diseases, other 
Member Countries and the final decision of the International Committee, 
3. Recognition of FMD free status is suspended upon declaration by a Member Country of an 
outbreak in a previously disease free national territory or zone, 
4. The list of FMD free countries and zones rec ognised as FMD free is important to some Member 
Countries for the purpose of trade in animals and animal products. These countries could sustain 
huge economic losses through lost trade for a pe riod of time exceeding that required in the 
Terrestrial Code to regain FMD free stat us following eradication of an outbreak, 
5. Chapter 2.2.10. of the Terrestrial Code describ es criteria by which under certain circumstances a 
recognised FMD free country or zone that has ha d an FMD outbreak can regain its disease free 
status in less than a year, 
6. During the 70th General Session, the Intern ational Committee adopted Resolution No. XVIII 
asking Member Countries applying for evaluation for freedom from FMD to meet part of the 
costs sustained by the OIE Central Bureau in the evaluation process, 
7. During the 65th General Session, the Inte rnational Committee adopted Resolution No. XVII 
delegating to the Scientific Commission for Anim al Diseases the authorit y to recognise, without 
further International Committee consultation, that a Member Country or zone within its territory 
has regained its previously recognised FMD free st atus following outbreaks that are eradicated in 
accordance with the relevant provisions of chapter 2.2.10. of the Terrestrial Code, 
8. During the 71st General Session, the Inte rnational Committee adopt ed Resolution No. XXI 
delegating to the Scientific Commission for Anim al Diseases the authorit y to recognise, without 
further International Committee consultation, an FMD free zone created following outbreaks 
within a Member Country or its territory in accord ance with the relevant provisions of chapters 
1.3.5. and 2.2.10. of the Terrestrial Code, 
 G/SPS/GEN/708 
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  9. The suspension of the free status of a country or a zone within a country as result of an outbreak 
of FMD in the country or zone, could have a sev ere impact on the international trade in animals 
and animal products for the affected Member Count ry irrespective of the extent of the outbreak, 
10. The provisions contained in chapters 1.3.5. a nd 2.2.10. and appendix 3.8.7. of the Terrestrial 
Code provide guidelines to Member Countries to ef fectively identify and separate infected from 
non-infected zones within a country,  
11. The provisions contained in chapters 1.3.5 and 2. 2.10 and appendix 3.8.7 of the Terrestrial Code 
allows Member Countries to establish several zon es of freedom from FMD either with or without 
vaccination, within a country, 
12. Articles 2.2.10.4 and 2.2.10.5 of Chapter 2.2.10 of the Terrestrial Code, do not specifically 
require that free zones of different  or similar FMD status within a country be separated from each 
other by a buffer zone or geographical or physical borders,   
13. Some Member Countries have expressed the n eed for the continuation or early resumption of 
trade in animals and animal products in the event of an outbreak of foot and mouth disease and 
after appropriate measures have been taken to control the disease.  
THE COMMITTEE RESOLVES THAT 
1. The Scientific Commission for Animal Diseases r econsider the current provisions of relevant 
chapters and appendices in the Terrestrial Code in view of the need of Member Countries to 
continue with the trade in animals and animal pr oducts in the event of an outbreak of foot and 
mouth disease within a country or zone and af ter appropriate measures  have been taken in 
accordance with the provisions of the Terrestrial Code. 
2. The Scientific Commission for Animal Diseases r econsider the current provisions of relevant 
chapters and appendices in the Terrestrial Code to  ensure that where several free zones for foot 
and mouth disease, with or without vaccination, are present in the same country, sufficient 
sanitary measures are provided to protect the free st atus of non-affected zones in the event of an 
outbreak of FMD in one or more of the free zones. 
3. The Scientific Commission for Animal Diseases consider the need for possible changes to the 
relevant chapters and appendices in the Terrestrial Code to expedite the process for the regaining 
of freedom from disease and resumption of tr ade following the suspension of the disease free 
status of a country or zone. 
4. The OIE presents its recommendations for cons ideration by the International Committee during 
the 75th General Session of the OIE.  
 
_______________ 
 
 
   
(Adopted by the International Committee of the OIE on 23 May 2006)  G/SPS/GEN/708 
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  Appendix 2  
RESOLUTION No. XXVI 
Recognition of the Foot and Mouth Disease Status of Member Countries 
CONSIDERING THAT 
1. During the 63rd General Session, the Interna tional Committee adopted Resolutions XI and XII, 
‘Establishment of a list of foot and mouth disease (FMD) free countries where vaccination is not 
practised’, and ‘Procedure for the recognition of the foot and mouth disease status of Member 
Countries’, respectively, 
2. During the 64th General Session, the Intern ational Committee adopted Resolution XII, which 
asks that the Director General publish a list of th e countries or zones within national territories 
that fulfil the criteria of one of the FMD free categories described in Chapter 2.2.10. of the 
Terrestrial Animal Health Code (the Terrestrial Code), 
3. The Scientific Commission for Animal Diseases (the Scientific Commission) has continued to 
apply the procedure approved by the Internati onal Committee, and has supported the recognition 
of the FMD free status of additional countries and zones within national territories for annual 
adoption of the list by the International Committee, 
4. Recommendations of the Scientific Commission regarding the evaluation of countries as being 
free from foot and mouth disease have been submitted to Member Countries for comments as 
outlined in Resolution XVI, which was adopted  during the 67th General Session of the 
International Committee, 
5. The Scientific Commission proposed that an updated list of countries and zones previously 
recognised as free from foot and mouth disease and those newly proposed by the Scientific Commission in consultation with Member C ountries be annually adopted by resolution, 
6. During the 65th General Session, the Intern ational Committee adopted Resolution XII, which 
stated that the Delegates of Member Countries where countries or zones within their national 
territories are recognised as FMD free, annually c onfirm by letter during the month of November 
that their FMD status and the criteria by whic h that status was recognised have remained 
unchanged, 
7. During the 65th General Session, the Inte rnational Committee adopted Resolution XVII 
delegating to the Scientific Commission the author ity to recognise, without further International 
Committee consultation, that a Member Country or  zone within its territory has regained its 
previously recognised FMD free status following  outbreaks that are er adicated in accordance 
with the relevant provisions of Chapter 2.2.10. of the Terrestrial Code, 
8. During the 71st General Session, the Inte rnational Committee adopted Resolution XXI 
delegating to the Scientific Commission the author ity to recognise, without further International 
Committee consultation, an FMD free zone cr eated following outbreaks within a Member 
Country or its territory in accordance with the rele vant provisions of Chap ters 1.3.5. and 2.2.10. 
of the Terrestrial  Code, G/SPS/GEN/708 
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  9. During the 70th General Session, the Intern ational Committee adopted Resolution XVIII asking 
Member Countries applying for evaluation for freedom from FMD to meet part of the costs sustained by the OIE Central Bu reau in the evaluation process, 
10. Information published by the OIE is derived from declarations made by the official Veterinary 
Services of Member Countries. The OIE is not responsible for inaccurate publication of country 
disease status based on inaccurate information or changes in epidemiological status or other 
significant events that were not promptly reported to the Central Bureau subsequent to the time 
of declaration of freedom. 
THE COMMITTEE 
RESOLVES 
That the Director General publish the following list of Member Countries recognised as FMD free 
countries where vaccination is not practised, accordi ng to the provisions of Chapter 2.2.10. of the 
Terrestrial Code
 1: 
Albania 
Australia Austria Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Canada Chile 
Costa Rica 
Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Rep. Denmark El Salvador Estonia Finland Former Yug. Rep. of Macedonia 
France Germany 
Greece Guatemala Guyana Honduras Hungary Iceland Indonesia Ireland 
Italy 
Japan Korea (Rep. of) Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Madagascar Malta Mauritius 
Mexico Netherlands 
New Caledonia  New Zealand Nicaragua Norway Panama Poland Portugal Romania 
Serbia-and-Montenegro 
Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Ukraine United Kingdom United States of America 
Vanuatu 
 
AND 
That the Director General publish the following list of Member Countries recognised as FMD free 
countries where vaccination is practised, according to the provisions of Chapter 2.2.10. of the 
Terrestrial Code
1: 
Taipei China, Paraguay and Uruguay 
                                                      
1 For information on the status of non-contiguous territories of  Member Countries recognised as FMD free, please address 
enquiries to that country’s Delega te or to the Director General  G/SPS/GEN/708 
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  AND 
That the Director General publish the following list of Member Countries as having an FMD free 
zone where vaccination is not practised, accordi ng to the provisions of Chapter 2.2.10. of the 
Terrestrial Code: 
Argentina :  zone situated south of the 42° parallel; 
Colombia :  zone designated by the Delegate of Colomb ia in documents addressed to the Director 
General on 25 November 1995 (Area I - Nort hwest region of Choco Department) and 
3 April 1996; 
Malaysia :  zones of Sabah and Sarawak designated by the Delegate of Malaysia in a document 
addressed to the Director General on 15 December 2003; 
Namibia :   zone designated by the Delegate of Namibia in a document addressed to the Director 
General on 6 February 1997; 
Peru:   one zone as designated by the Delegate of Peru in a document addressed to the Director 
General in December 2004; 
Philippines :  Islands of Mindanao, Visayas, Palawan and Masbate; 
South Africa : zone designated by the Delegate of S outh Africa in a document addressed to the 
Director General in May 2005; 
AND 
That the Director General publish the following list of Member Countries as having FMD free zones 
where vaccination is practised, according to the provi sions of Chapter 2.2.10. of the Terrestrial Code: 
Bolivia : zone of Chiquitania designated by the Delega te of Bolivia in documents addressed to the 
Director General in January 2003 and a zone  situated in the western part of the 
Department of Oruro in documents addressed to the Director General in September 2005 
Brazil : States of Acre along with two adjacent municipalities of Amazon state, Rio Grande do 
Sul, Santa Catarina, and Rondonia; 
Colombia : zone designated by the Delegate of Colombia in documents addressed to the Director 
General on January 2003 and two zones d esignated by the Delegate in documents 
addressed to the Director General in December 2004. 
_______________ 
 
    
(Adopted by the International Committee of the OIE on  23 May 2006) 
 G/SPS/GEN/708 
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  Appendix 3
 
RESOLUTION No. XXVII 
Recognition of the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Status of Member Countries 
CONSIDERING THAT 
1. During the 69th General Session, the Inte rnational Committee adopted Resolution No. XV, 
asking Member Countries that wish to be evalua ted for conformation with the requirements of 
the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code (the  Terrestrial Code) for bovine spongiform 
encephalopathy (BSE) free status to submit a formal  application to the Director General of the 
OIE for consideration by the Scientific  Commission for Animal Diseases (Scientific 
Commission), 
2. An Ad hoc Group of experts on BSE (OIE Ad hoc Group for Evaluation of Country Submissions 
for Recognition as complying with the Terrestri al Code as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy 
Free) has been set up by the OIE and the Group  has developed guidelines to facilitate the 
submission of data by Member Countries in a ccordance with the require ments in the current 
edition of the Terrestrial Code, 
3. During the 70th General Session, the Intern ational Committee adopted Resolution XVIII asking 
Member Countries applying for this evaluation to meet part of the costs sustained by the OIE 
Central Bureau in the evaluation process, 
4. During the 71st General Session, the Inte rnational Committee adopted Resolution XXII 
authorising the Scientific Commission to also eval uate submissions for provisional freedom from 
BSE in accordance with Article 2.3.13.4. of the Terrestrial Code, 
5. The Ad hoc Group has already examined submissions from several countries and made 
appropriate recommendations that have been  endorsed by the Scientific Commission 
6. These recommendations have been submitted to Member Countries for comments as outlined in 
Resolution No. XVI, which was adopted during th e 67th General Session of the International 
Committee for foot and mouth disease (FMD), 
7. During the 72nd General Session, the OIE Inte rnational Committee adopted Resolution No. XXI 
asking the Director General to establish a list of countries or zones recognised by the OIE as BSE 
‘free’ and ‘provisionally free’ in accordance w ith Chapter 2.3.13. of the 13th edition of the 
Terrestrial Code (2004). This list should be up dated as and when new countries are approved by 
the International Committee and shall be  adopted annually by resolution; 
8. During the 72nd General Session, the OIE adopted Resolution No. XXI asking the Director 
General to inform Delegates of Member Countri es whose countries or zones within their national 
territories are recognised as ‘free’ or ‘provisiona lly free’ from BSE that they should annually 
confirm by letter during the month of November whether their status and the criteria by which 
their status was recognised have remained uncha nged. The list of countries or zones is published 
free of charge by the OIE;  G/SPS/GEN/708 
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  9. During the 73rd General Session, the OIE adopt ed Resolution No. XXI requesting the Scientific 
Commission to continue to examine the dossier s of applicant countries in accordance with 
Chapter 2.3.13. of the 13th edition of the Terrest rial Code (2004), until one year after a new BSE 
chapter (describing three categories of BSE country status) and all its complementary 
surveillance appendices are adopted by the International Committee, 
10. During the 73rd General Session, the OIE adopt ed Resolution No. XXI confirming that countries 
which had already submitted dossiers for the evaluation of country status need not pay any 
additional costs should they have  to renew their applications, 
11. Information published by the OIE is derived from appropriate declarations made by the official 
Veterinary Services of Member Countries. The OI E is not responsible for inaccurate publication 
of country disease status based on inaccurate inform ation or changes in epidemiological status or 
other significant events that were not promptly reported to the Central Bureau. 
THE COMMITTEE RESOLVES THAT 
1. The Director General publish the following list of Member Countries recognised as free from 
BSE in accordance with Chapter 2.3.13. of the 13th edition (2004) of the Terrestrial Code: 
Australia, Argentina, New Zealand and Uruguay. 
2. The Director General publish the following list of Member Countries recognised as 
‘provisionally free’ from BSE in accordance with Chapter 2.3.13. of the 13th edition (2004) of 
the Terrestrial Code: 
Chile, Iceland, Paraguay and Singapore. 
3. Countries listed above wishing to submit an app lication before the end of 2006 for confirmation 
of their status will be assessed against the Terr estrial Code of 2004 and will remain on the list 
published by the OIE until May 2008. 
 
4. Any country wishing to submit an application before the end of 2006 for negligible risk or 
controlled risk status for BSE, will be assess ed against the Terrestrial Code of 2006. 
 
5. After December 2006, all appli cations for BSE status will be assessed against the Terrestrial 
Code current at the time. 
_______________ 
 
    
 
 
(Adopted by the International Committee of the OIE on 23 May 2006) 
  G/SPS/GEN/708 
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Appendix 4
 
RESOLUTION No. XXVIII 
Recognition of Member Countries Free Status from Rinderpest Infection 
and Rinderpest Disease 
CONSIDERING THAT 
1. During the 63rd General Session, the Inte rnational Committee adopted Resolution No. XIV 
‘Establishment of a list of countries that are free of rinderpest’, 
2. During the 68th General Session, the Intern ational Committee adopted Resolution No. XIII 
designating a baseline list of Me mber Countries that were free from rinderpest infection. The 
countries included in the list certified that they met the requirements specifi ed in Chapter 2.2.12. 
of the Terrestrial Animal Health Code (the Terrestrial Code), 
3. The OIE has also developed a list of countries that are considered to be free from rinderpest 
disease in accordance with Chapter 2. 2.12. of the Terrestrial Code, 
4. Recommendations of the Scientific Commiss ion for Animal Diseases (the Scientific 
Commission) regarding countries that are ev aluated as free from rinderpest disease and from 
rinderpest infection have been submitted to Member Countries for comments as outlined in 
Resolution No. XVI which was adopted during th e 67th General Session of the International 
Committee, 
5. The Scientific Commission has continued to a pply the procedure approved by the International 
committee and has supported the recognition of a list of countries and zones as free from 
rinderpest disease and rinderpest infection for annua l adoption of this list by the International 
Committee, 
6. During the 71st General Session, the Scientif ic Commission proposed that Member Countries so 
recognised reconfirm annually whether  their rinde rpest status as well as  the conditions under 
which such status was granted have remained unchanged and that this annual reconfirmation 
would be a requirement for maintaining OIE recognition, 
7 During the 70th General Session, the Intern ational Committee adopted Resolution No. XVIII 
resolving that most of the costs incurred by the OIE Central Bureau in the evaluation of country 
applications for obtaining the free status with r espect to rinderpest disease or rinderpest infection 
would be recovered whenever possible from s ources other than the applicant countries, 
8. Information published by the OIE is derived from appropriate declarations made by the official 
Veterinary Services of Member Countries. The OI E is not responsible for inaccurate publication 
of country disease status based on inaccurate inform ation or changes in epidemiological status or 
other significant events that were not promptly re ported to the Central Bureau subsequent to the 
time of declaration of freedom from disease or infection,  G/SPS/GEN/708 
 Page 15 
 
 
  THE COMMITTEE 
RESOLVES That the Director General publish the following list of Member Countries recognised as free from 
rinderpest infection, according to the provisions of Chapter 2.2.12. of the Terrestrial Code: 
Albania 
Algeria Andorra 
Argentina 
Australia Austria 
Barbados 
Belgium Benin 
Bhutan 
Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina 
Botswana 
Brazil Bulgaria 
Burkina Faso 
Burundi Canada Chile 
Colombia 
Congo Congo (Dem. Rep. of the) 
Costa Rica 
Croatia Cuba 
Cyprus 
Czech Rep. Denmark 
Ecuador  
Egypt El Salvador 
Eritrea 
Estonia Finland Former Yug. Rep. of Macedonia 
France Germany  
Greece Guatemala 
Guinea 
Guinea Bissau Guyana 
Honduras 
Hungary Iceland 
India 
Indonesia Ireland 
Italy 
Jamaica Japan 
Korea (Rep. of) 
Laos Latvia Lesotho 
Lithuania 
Luxembourg Madagascar 
Malawi 
Malaysia Mali 
Malta 
Mauritius Mexico 
Moldavia 
Mongolia Morocco 
Myanmar 
Namibia Nepal Netherlands New Caledonia 
New Zealand Norway  
Panama 
Paraguay Peru 
Philippines 
Poland Portugal 
Romania 
Rwanda Senegal 
Singapore 
Slovakia Slovenia 
South Africa 
Spain Swaziland Sweden 
Switzerland 
Thailand Taipei China 
Togo 
Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia 
Turkey 
Ukraine United Kingdom 
United States of America 
Uruguay Vanuatu 
Venezuela 
Vietnam Zambia Zimbabwe 
 
   G/SPS/GEN/708 
Page 16  
 
  That the Director General publish the following list of Member Countries as being free from 
rinderpest disease according to the provisions of  Chapter 2.2.12. of the Terrestrial Code: 
Chad 
Cote d'Ivoire  Ghana Lebanon 
Mauritania 
 Niger 
Nigeria Sudan Tanzania 
Uganda 
 
 
 
That the Director General publish the following list of Member Countries having zones designated by their respective Delegates as free from rinderpest disease according to the provisions of Chapter 
2.2.12. of the Terrestrial Code; 
Ethiopia: zone designated by the Delegate of Ethiopia in a document addressed to the Director 
General in July 2004 
Kenya :  zone designated by the De legate of Kenya in a document a ddressed to the Director General 
in August 2005 
 
AND 
 That the Delegates of Member Countries whose count ries or zones within their national territories are 
recognised as rinderpest infection or rinderpest disea se free, annually reconfirm by letter in November 
of each year that both their status and the criteria by which such status was recognised have remained 
unchanged. It is understood that these Delegates will immediately notify the Central Bureau if 
rinderpest infection or disease occur in their countries or zones within their territories. 
______________ 
 
 
     
 
    
 
    
(Adopted by the International Committee of the OIE on 23 May 2006) 
 G/SPS/GEN/708 
 Page 17 
  
  Appendix 5  
RESOLUTION No. XXIX 
Recognition of the Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia Status of Member Countries 
CONSIDERING THAT 
1. Appendix 3.8.3. of the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code (the Terrestrial Code) provides for a 
pathway for Member Countries to be declared  free from contagious bovine pleuropneumonia 
(CBPP) by the OIE if an application including su pporting data as outlined in Appendix 3.8.3. of 
the Terrestrial Code is submitted to the OIE. Th e Terrestrial Code also provides a procedure for 
the Scientific Commission for Animal Diseases (t he Scientific Commission) to review these 
applications and report its recommendati ons to the International Committee, 
2. During the 70th General Session, the Intern ational Committee adopted Resolution No. XVIII 
asking Member Countries applying for evaluation for freedom from CBPP to meet part of the 
costs sustained by the OIE Central Bureau in the evaluation process, 
3. During the 71st General Session, the Inte rnational Committee approved Resolution N° XXIV 
regarding the recognition of the CBPP status of specific Member Countries, 
4. Appendix 3.8.3. contains provisions for countries or zones within their territories that are 
continuously free from CBPP for at least 10 years and meet the relevant requirements of 
Appendix 3.8.3. for “freedom from CBPP” in that a) no vaccination has been carried out for at 
least 10 years, b) throughout that period there h as been no clinical or pathological evidence of 
CBPP infection, c) throughout that period a permanent adequate disease surveillance and 
reporting system has been and is still in place c overing all susceptible domestic livestock, and d) 
in appropriate circumstances, use of diagnos tic procedures capable of differentiating 
Mycoplasma mycoides from other bovine Mycoplas ma infections in the investigation of 
respiratory disease has been made, with findings  consistent with freedom from M. mycoides 
infection, may be proposed to be declared free from CBPP by the Scientific Commission without 
the necessity to proceed through the normal intermed iate steps detailed in Appendix 3.8.3. of the 
Terrestrial Code, 
5. During the 72nd General Session, the Intern ational Committee adopted Resolution No. XXIII 
asked the OIE Director General to establish a lis t of countries or zones free from CBPP with or 
without vaccination and include in that list countries already recognised free of CBPP by the 
OIE, 
6. The Scientific Commission continue to a pply the procedure approved by the International 
Committee with respect to the recognition of di sease free status and support the recognition of 
the CBPP free status of additional countries a nd zones within national territories for annual 
adoption of the list by the International Committee, 
7. An updated list of countries and zones previ ously recognised as free from CBPP and those newly 
proposed by the Scientific Commission after c onsultation of Member Countries will be annually 
adopted by resolution, G/SPS/GEN/708 
Page 18  
 
  8. Member Countries recognise that information pub lished by the OIE is derived from appropriate 
declarations made by the official Veterinary Services of Member Countries. The OIE is not responsible for inaccurate publication of country  disease status based on inaccurate information 
or changes in epidemiological status or other significant events that were not promptly reported 
to the Central Bureau subsequent to the time of declaration of freedom. 
THE COMMITTEE 
RESOLVES THAT 
1. The Director General publish the following list of Member Countries recognised as free from 
CBPP according to the provisions of Appendix 3.8.3 of the Terrestrial Code: 
Australia 
Botswana 
Portugal 
Switzerland 
2. The Delegates of Member Countries whose countri es or zones within their national territories are 
recognised as free from CBPP reconfirm by letter in November of each year that both their status 
and the criteria by which such status was recogni sed have remained unchanged. It is understood 
that these Delegates will immediately notify the Cent ral Bureau if CBPP occurs in their countries 
or in zones within their territories. 
 
_______________ 
  
    
 
     
 (Adopted by the International Committee of the OIE on 23 May 2006) 
  
 
__________