Regional experts adopt recommendations towards safe livestock trade between the Horn of Africa and the Middle East

Feeding time for goats in a quarantine station: Regional livestock experts from the Horn of Africa and the Middle East have adopted recommendations towards harmonized, risk-based approaches to control of trade-related transboundary animal diseases (Photo: Saudi-Emirates International Veterinary Quarantine Management Co.)

Following a meeting in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on 13-16 June 2011, some 70 regional and international livestock experts endorsed and adopted a set of recommendations aimed at enhancing safe inter-regional livestock trade between exporting countries in the Horn of Africa and importing countries in the Middle East.

The objectives of the workshop were to:

• Examine the use of the decision support tool for adoption in prevention and control of Rift Valley fever
• Assemble an approach to regional harmonization for control of other transboundary animal diseases that impact on livestock trade
• Delineate animal welfare issues along the marketing chain and propose potential interventions
• Devise mechanisms for ensuring enhanced communication between the trading partners
• Define the way forward on risk-based approaches to livestock certification

The workshop participants made recommendations on the following aspects that were discussed during the 4-day meeting:

• Standard Methods and Procedures
• Rift Valley fever decision support tool
• Communication between livestock trading partners
• Animal health certification
• Animal welfare
• Application of the principle of equivalence

The workshop was convened by a consortium of partners comprising the African Union – Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) as the lead implementing agency, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Read the workshop recommendations

For more information about the workshop activities and to access the presentations, please visit http://rvfworkshop2011.wordpress.com

To view the workshop presentations, please visit http://www.slideshare.net/marketsblog/presentations