SESSION 2 A. Management of animal health
Abstract
The OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code, the SPS Agreement and the Codex Alimentarius are the three most essential reference documents to guide decision-making for the formulation and evaluation of sanitary measures for the control of animal diseases. The Code is often wrongly interpreted by some countries as being prescriptive and discriminatory against non-compliance leaving a perception off being “all-or-none” and uncompromising and insensitive to the needs for trade in animals and animal products. The Code however, makes provision for specific rights and obligations and alternatives to be considered to minimise risk in the trade of animals and animal products and to create options to promote trade between countries of equal sanitary status but also between countries of different sanitary status. The Code is not a textbook on animal diseases but identify and recommend standards and guidelines not only to facilitate trade in milking animals and their products but also to help countries to protect their dairy industries against the introduction of trade-sensitive diseases of dairy animals.
INTRODUCTION
The OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code (Code) , the Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the Codex Alimentarius (Codex) of the FAO/WHO are the three most essential international references to guide decisionmaking for the control of animal diseases and the trade in animals and animal products (3, 5, 6). Although the Code, Codex and the SPS Agreement are complimentary and in support of each other, they address separate aspects in relation to the trade in animals and animal products or the control of animal diseases. The main purpose of the Code is to give guidelines and recommendations for the safe trade in animals and animal products and to prevent the transmission of diseases between animals or the introduction of animal diseases through trade. Codex determines standards for the quality and safe processing of animal products to render it safe for human consumption. The SPS Agreement determines the rules of the game for the trade in animals and animal products but also sets out the basic rules for food safety and animal health standards. The most important being the encouragement that sanitary standards must be consistent with international standards, guidelines and recommendations of the OIE and Codex; that sanitary standards must be based on scientific principles and applied only to the extent necessary to protect human and animal life and health. The Code is not a textbook on animal diseases but identifies and recommends standards and guidelines not only to facilitate trade in milking animals and their products but also to help countries to protect their dairy industries against the introduction of trade-sensitive diseases of dairy animals.
OUTLINE OF THE OIE TERRESTRIAL ANIMAL HEALTH CODE IN RESPECT OF RECOMMENDATIONS APPLICABLE TO SPECIFIC ANIMAL DISEASES
The diseases applicable to dairy animals are classified in the Code as either List A or List B diseases based on the trade sensitivity of the disease and not necessary on the danger to human health of the disease. List A diseases are perceived to be more trade sensitive than the diseases listed in List B of the Code. None of the diseases are specific to dairy animals but could also be applicable to other animal species in some instances. There are 15 diseases listed in the Code that concerns milk and milk products of which six diseases are included in List A and nine diseases in List B. In all these 15 diseases, milk or milk products are implicated as a means of transmission of pathogens between animals or between animals and humans (1, 4). In each chapter for a specific disease, the disease is briefly defined and guidelines given for the acceptance or refusal of animals or animal products that might be infected with the disease. These guidelines for trade provide alternatives for decisions to be taken under different scenarios that may occur in the trade of animals or animal products (1, 3, 6). The most common scenarios covered are the movement of animals or products between countries of equal status (free country to free country) or between countries of unequal status (infected to free country of from free country to infected country). The guidelines consider the risk mitigation procedures that would be necessary to render an animal or product safe for trade. For certain diseases (mostly List A diseases), guidelines and recommendations are also given for a country or zone within a country, to be regarded free from a specific disease.
THE RELEVANCE OF THE TERRESTRIAL CODE TO TRADE IMPLICATIONS FOR DISEASES OF DAIRY ANIMALS
The Code fulfils both a facilitating and a prohibitory function for the trade in milk and milk products and the control of diseases of dairy animals. The function is prohibitory in as much as it give guidelines and recommendations to regard a product safe for trade i.e. what pathogen destruction processes are required to render a dairy product safe for trade. The Code is facilitating in as much as it also clearly indicates where a dairy product even in the presence of a specific disease, could be regarded safe and not posing a risk factor for transmission of that particular disease to other animals. The latter is especially important when it becomes necessary to challenge a country that might apply sanitary measures as a non-tariff trade barrier without scientific justification and not in accordance with an international standard.
Certain tissues and organs of a bovine suffering from Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) are regarded as high-risk materials for possible transmission of the disease via animal feed etc., or is incriminated as a possible cause of variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (VCJD) in humans. However, milk and milk products are clearly excluded from these list of high-risk materials and are therefore regarded as safe for trade even in the presence of disease or regardless of the BSE status of the exporting country. The Code, specifically in the case of BSE, recommends that countries should authorize without restriction the import or transit through their territory milk and milk products. The diseases listed in table 1, also clearly illustrates the main purpose of the Code i.e. to give guidelines and recommendations for the trade in animals and animal products to protect animal health. In only two List A diseases of cattle are milk and milk products specifically mentioned and only to the extent of giving guidelines and recommendations to render the products safe for animal consumption and for human consumption. The “safe for human consumption” means the processes necessary for rendering a product safe for distribution within the trade so as not to create a risk for accidental exposure or consumption by animals. A good example is the processes described in the Code for destruction of the Foot and Mouth Disease virus in milk, cream, milk powder for human consumption and for animal consumption. For human consumption, milk or cream must be inactivated through either a sterilisation process applying a minimum temperature of 132°C for at least one second (ultrahigh temperature (UHT) or if the milk has a pH less than 7,0, a sterilisation process applying a minimum temperature of 72°C for at least 15 seconds (high temperature - short time pasteurization (HTST) or if the milk has a pH of 7,0 or over, the HTST process applied twice.
For animal consumption the HTST process must be applied twice or HTST combined with another physical treatment such as maintaining a pH 6 or at least one hour or additional heating to at least 72°C combined with desiccation or UHT combined with another physical treatment (1). The emphasis is therefore clearly on risk mitigation procedures to render a product safe should the product intended for human consumption; somehow end up in animal feed. The main purpose therefore is not to protect human health but primarily animal health. For Anthrax which is a List B disease, the main requirements for milk or milk products for trade are that the establishment of origin had no animals showing clinical signs of the disease or that the milk were pasteurized (1). The trade implications of commonly known zoonotic diseases such as Bovine Tuberculosis, Bovine Brucellosis and even Leptospirosis are not described in the Code from a zoonotic perspective but from an animal health perspective as it relates to trade.
This however, do not imply that the Code is therefore incomplete or ignoring the important aspect of zoonosis. The zoonotic aspects of these diseases are addressed by Codex whilst the Code must ensure the save disease-free trade in animals and animal products to protect animal health and life as outlined in the SPS Agreement. The real relevance of the Code to the diseases of dairy animals lies in the way in which the Code assist countries by giving guidelines and recommendations for trade in animals and animal products. It especially helps the dairy industries in countries to: • set an appropriate level of protection to protect its own dairy industry against the introduction of foreign diseases • harmonize the sanitary standards for disease control in dairy establishments in accordance with international (OIE) standards • use the Code as a baseline to negotiate equivalence in sanitary standards for the trade in milk and milk products • use the guidelines and recommendations of the Code as a baseline for conducting risk assessments for trade.
TABLE 1 List of animal diseases in the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code concerning milk and milk products and for which milk or milk products are implicated as a means of transmission of pathogens between animals or between animals and humans (2, 4).
| Disease |
The OIE disease List |
The Code chapter |
| Foot and Mouth Disease |
List A |
Chapter 2.1.1.* |
| Rinderpest |
List A |
Chapter 2.1.4.* |
| Lumpy skin disease |
List A |
Chapter 2.1.7.*
|
| Enzootic Bovine Leucosis |
List B |
Chapter 2.3.4.** |
| Paratuberculosis (Johne’s disease) |
List B |
Chapter 2.2.6.** |
|
Peste des petits ruminants |
List A |
Chapter 2.1.5.* |
| Sheep and Goat Pox |
List A |
Chapter 2.1.10.** |
| Caprine arthritis/encephalitis |
List B |
Chapter 2.4.4.** |
| Contagious agalactia |
List B |
Chapter 2.4.3. |
| Rift Valley fever |
List A |
Chapter 2.1.8.** |
| Anthrax |
List B |
Chapter 2.2.1.* |
| Leptospirosis |
List B |
Chapter 2.2.4.** |
| Tuberculosis |
List B |
Chapter 2.3.3.** |
| Brucellosis |
List B |
Chapter 2.3.1. |
|
|
Chapter 2.4.1. |
|
|
Chapter 2.4.2. |
|
|
Chapter 2.6.2. |
| Q Fever |
List B
|
There is no chapter. |
* means the disease is covered by the Code and is accompanied by “milk”, “milk products” or “products of animal origin” (the definition of which includes milk and milk products).
** means the disease is covered by the Code but is not accompanied by “milk”, “milk products” or “products of animal origin”, but is considered to have the potential for transmission by such commodities.
*** There is no Chapter including the word, “dairy”, in the Terrestrial Animal Health Code.
**** Diseases, which may be transmitted via porcine milk or through animal semen (due to the use of milk as an extender), are omitted.
NEW INITIATIVES FROM OIE TO COORDINATE WITH OTHER ROLE PLAYERS ON ZOONOTIC DISEASES
Due to the demands from consumers worldwide for improved food safety, the OIE has identified a need to expand its scientific standard-setting activities into “animal production food safety”. In this new field, it will work with other relevant organisations in reducing food-borne risks to human health due to hazards arising from animals, prior to primary processing of animal products. In this context, a hazard is defined as a biological, chemical or physical agent in food with the potential to cause an adverse health effect. The OIE’s work programme for 2001-2005 recommends that “OIE should be more active in the area of public health and consumer protection,” and notes that this should include “zoonoses and diseases transmissible to humans through food, whether or not animals are affected by such diseases”. The OIE’s traditional role has been the prevention of animal disease transmission among animals and to humans.
To date, however, the OIE has not focused on developing recommendations for the prevention of these diseases from a food safety point of view, especially if the pathogens do not cause clinical signs in animals. The Director General of the OIE convened an Ad hoc Group on Food Safety the recommendations of which were presented and adopted by the International Committee in 2002. A permanent Working Group on Food Safety was established to coordinate the food safety activities of the OIE and held its first meeting in November 2002 The Working Group includes in its membership several experts from the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) and Codex Committees, and reflects a broad geographical base. It will give special consideration to the needs of developing countries. The Working Group recognised that the OIE’s goals can only be achieved in collaboration with the WHO, the FAO and their subsidiary bodies, particularly the CAC. This is required to avoid contradictory standards, to address gaps which may exist among current standards and to ensure the most effective utilisation of available expertise.
To this end, the OIE has already moved to strengthen formal and informal relationships with such international agencies and with relevant expert groups. The Working Group identified, as priorities, the joint review of OIE and CAC standards to identify gaps and duplication, and the development of procedures to develop common and linked standards and procedures for the mutual recognition of standards. Initial work would be on the Code chapters on tuberculosis and brucellosis (to better address animal production food safety aspects), and on the current CAC work on meat and poultry hygiene. In this work, OIE will provide a service not only to the importing country by preventing the spread of diseases, but also to the exporting country by contributing to the improvement of the “production to consumption” food safety continuum. For example, pre-harvest animal and public health standards development will contribute to decreased numbers of carcass condemnations, increased meat export, and increased consumer confidence in food products. Ultimately, the OIE’s involvement will further protect the consumer in terms of food safety, as well as improve worldwide animal and public health (2).
CONCLUSION
Whilst the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code is primarily focused on the protection of animal health and life to facilitate trade in animals and animal products, the OIE also recognizes the need to coordinate with other relative role players to the full extend required in the SPS Agreement for countries to set and meet appropriate levels of protection for the trade in milk and milk products. The Code therefore fulfils an important role to give guidelines and recommendations in terms of animal health requirements to compliment the requirements in terms of human health and safety and consumer protection as required in terms of Codex and the WHO.
REFERENCES
1. OIE (2003). International Terrestrial Animal Health Code,2003 Edition. OIE 2003 12 rue de Prony 75017, Paris,France, 515 pp.
2. OIE (2004): OIE Website: www.oie.int Newsletter from Director-General, 22 February 2004.
3. Thiermann A. (1996). The use of OIE recommendations and procedures by member countries for international trade in relation to the World Trade Organization. Technical Item, 64th general Session of the OIE, Paris, 8 pp.
4. Wilson D. (2004). Head: International Trade Department, Central Bureau, OIE, Paris, France: Personal Communication.
5. World Trade Organization (1995). The result of the Uruguay round of multilateral trade negotiations: The legal texts: Agreement on the application of sanitary and phytosanitary measures., Geneva, 69 - 84.
6. World Trade Organization (1999). Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures: Review on the operation and implementation of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures:G/SPS/12.
IDF/FAO international symposium on dairy safety and hygiene Cape Town,
2–5 March 2004,
South Africa |
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