WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/1043 
8 October 2010 
 (10-5145) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English/ 
 French/  Spanish 
 
  
RELEVANT ACTIVITIES 
 
Submission by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE)
 
 
  The following communication, received on 6 October 2010, is being circulated at the request of the OIE
. 
 
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 1. 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 and an update on OIE activities supporting the veterinary 
services of OIE members that chose to follow the OIE PVS pathway. 
I. TERRESTRIAL ANIMAL HEALTH STANDARDS COMMISSION (CODE 
COMMISSION) 
2. The Code Commission met in September 2010 to  consider OIE member comments on the 
Terrestrial Animal Health Code (Terrestrial Code) and to follow up the discussion at the 78
th OIE 
General Session in May 2010.  In the light of these comments and input from other specialized OIE 
Commissions, the Code Commission proposed several new and amended chapters of the Terrestrial 
Code.  The Code Commission will review member co mments on its proposals at its next meeting (1-
10 February 2011) and will propose revised texts for possible adoption at the 79th General Session of 
the OIE, 22-27 May 2011. 
A. FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE (FMD):   OIE  ENDORSEMENT OF NATIONAL FMD  CONTROL 
PROGRAMMES  
3. The OIE is considering mechanisms to encour age members to move towards national control 
of FMD, including through a proposal for OIE endor sement of national FMD control programmes for 
members that are working towards improved animal health status.  
4. In early 2012, the OIE will hold a second Globa l Conference on FMD, which will be a forum 
for discussion of scientific and technical questions  relevant to FMD and for encouraging donors to 
pledge financial support to national control programmes. 
5. A revised chapter on FMD will be provided for member comments with the Code 
Commission report in October 2010. G/SPS/GEN/1043 
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  B. A
FRICAN HORSE SICKNESS (AHS):   OIE  RECOGNITION OF DISEASE FREE STATUS  
6. The OIE is considering the possibility of prov iding official recognition of members’ AHS 
status.  A proposed approach will be provided fo r members' comments with the Code Commission 
report in October 2010. 
C. NEW CHAPTER ON PET FOOD  
7. The OIE is developing recommendations on pet f ood (heat treated, shelf stable food for dogs 
and cats), with the objective of minimising disruption to this large international trade in pet food 
caused by the imposition of trade restrictive measur es that are not based on science.  The OIE notes 
that properly controlled processing of  pet food provides a very wide margin of safety in respect of 
most disease agents. 
D. TRANSPARENCY OF DISEASE NOTIFICATION  
8. As highlighted in the OIE 5th Strategic Plan, OIE members have an obligation to report 
information on animal diseases in a transparent and timely manner, especially when there is a change 
in disease status.  New obligations are being introduc ed in respect of OIE listed diseases in wildlife.  
The OIE has published detailed guidance on the notifi cation obligations, which may be found in the 
document "Notification of animal and human diseases:  global legal basis" 
(http://www.oie.int/eng/PDF/notification-EN.pdf ). 
9. The OIE wishes to remind Members of the WTO that, based on the measures in the OIE 
Terrestrial Code, Members should not impose trade ba ns in response to the notification of disease in 
wildlife. 
E. THE "LEGALLY BINDING " NATURE OF OIE  STANDARDS  
10. In response to questions from some OIE member s about the "legally binding" nature of OIE 
standards, the Code Commission clarified that WTO Members have a legally binding obligation under 
the SPS Agreement to base their sanitary measures on the standards in the OIE Codes (for terrestrial 
and aquatic animals) and Manuals. 
F. PRIVATE STANDARDS FOR SANITARY SAFETY AND ANIMAL WELFARE . 
11. The OIE continued to work on this issue, cons istent with Resolution 26 passed at the OIE 38th 
General Session (May 2010).  A meeting was held with global private standard-setting organizations 
(GlobalGAP and GFSI) in September 2010.  The OI E is considering the development of formal 
agreements and other mechanisms to encourage closer collaboration with these organisations to 
address the concerns of OIE members.  
II. UPDATE ON OIE ACTIVITIES SUPPO RTING MEMBERS’ VETERINARY 
SERVICES  
12. The OIE continues its work in supporting veteri nary services to comply with the international 
standards of the OIE and the WTO SPS Agreement by encouraging members to  follow the "OIE PVS 
Pathway".  This is based on assessments of the quality of veterinary services using the OIE Tool for 
the Evaluation of Performance of Veterinary Serv ices, and related activities, including missions for 
strengthening veterinary legislation and for evaluating needs for investment (PVS GAP). 
13. Annex 1 shows the current status of the OIE Global PVS Initiative.   G/SPS/GEN/1043 
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  14. The OIE will hold the First OIE Global Conferen ce on Veterinary Legislation, in Djerba, 
Tunisia, on 6-8 December 2010.  Strong participation in this first global conference is expected as the 
topic of veterinary legislation is crucial to anim al health, food safety and WTO Member obligations.  
Detailed information on the Conference may be found at:  
http://www.oie.int/eng/A_LEG_VET2010/Home_eng.htm   
15. The OIE is supporting the participation of Veterinary Statutory Bodies (VSB) from 
developing countries of Africa and Asia in this important event, because these bodies can make an 
important contribution to the strengthening of performance of veterinary services worldwide. 
16. The creation of OIE National Focal Points on six key topics, under the authority of the OIE 
National Delegate, is an ongoing initiative.  Th is will contribute to global OIE expertise and 
strengthen communication between the OIE, its members and the focal points of other global 
organizations, including the SPS contact point and national Codex representatives.  Specific training 
for all National Focal Points is underway on an ongoing global basis. 
III. THE CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY (CBD) AND INVASIVE 
SPECIES 
17. The OIE recently published two volumes of th e OIE Scientific and Technical Review 
dedicated to the issue of invasive species.  The pub lication gives an overview of animal invasions and 
their mechanisms and impacts, both negative and positiv e.  The OIE was pleased to include an article 
written by the CBD Secretariat in the publicatio n, which may be obtained from the OIE online 
bookshop at:  http://www.oie.int/boutique/index.php?lang=en  
 G/SPS/GEN/1043 
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  ANNEX 
 
OIE PVS Evaluation Missions (as at 24 September 2010)
 
 
Region Official requests Missions 
completed Reports available
Africa 46 43 33 
Americas 21 17 15 
Asia/Pacific 16 13 11 
Europe 12 12 9 
Middle-East 12 11 4 
Total 107 96 72 
 
*Official requests: 
 Africa (46):  Algeria, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Rep., 
Chad, Côte D'Ivoire, Congo(DR), Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, 
Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho,  Liberia (non OIE member), Libya, 
Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mo rocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, 
Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone,  Somalia, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, 
Zambi a, Zimbabwe . 
Americas (21):  Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile,  Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, 
Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana,  Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, 
Peru, Trinidad and Tobago,  Uruguay. 
Asia/Pacific (16):  Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Iran, Korea (PDR), Laos 
PDR,  Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippi nes, Sri Lanka, Viet Nam . 
Europe (12):  Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Ge orgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Romania, 
Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan. 
Middle-East (12):  Afghanistan, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestinian National 
Authority (non OIE member), Qatar,  Saudi Arabia, Syria, UAE, Yemen. 
 
Italics:   Completed missions   G/SPS/GEN/1043 
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  PVS Gap Analysis Missions (as at 24 September 2010 ) 
 
Region Official requests Missions 
completed 
Africa 28 15 
Americas 8 2 
Asia/Pacific 11 4 
Europe 5 3 
Middle-East 5 2 
Total 57 26 
   
Legislation Missions (as at 24 September 2010
) 
 
Region Official requests Missions 
completed 
Africa 16 8 
Americas 2 0 
Asia/Pacific 3 3 
Europe 3 1 
Middle-East 4 2 
Total 28 14 
 
Official requests:  Africa (16):  Benin, Burkina Faso, Congo (DR) , Djibouti,  Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau,  
Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Nigeria, Sudan, Togo, Uganda,  Zambia 
Americas (2):  Bolivia, Honduras 
Asia/Pacific (3):  Bhutan, Cambodia, Viet Nam 
Europe (3):  Armenia, Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan 
Middle-East (4):  Afghanistan, Kuwait, Lebanon,  UAE 
 Italics :  Completed missions 
 
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