RC Europe
Regional Commission for Europe
18/09/19
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Address of the President of the OIE Regional Commission for Europe
“On behalf of the Bureau of the Regional Commission, I would like to thank you all for participating in the 29th Regional Conference for Europe. We had two fruitful days of very active engagement not only by Members of Regional Commission for Europe, CVO’s, Delegates, and colleagues from the OIE but also from other international organisations from the region, including Tripartite partners. President of the OIE, Dr. Mark Shipp also actively participated in the whole conference from Australia providing an excellent welcome talk and sharing with us his ideas on important topics, but also other colleagues from Asia spent their time with us despite the difference in time zones.
I believe everyone would agree that the programme was very good, the format of the conference, although virtual, provided an excellent platform for the exchange of ideas, thoughts, and recommendations. Our speakers offered information of critical importance for us, including on the next Strategic Plan, wildlife health framework, COVID-19 aspects with national experience of our colleagues from the Netherlands, Uzbekistan, and Austria, the progress in the area of the Observatory project, WAHIS, and AMR, and required competencies of Veterinary Services in the contemporary world. The President of the regional GF-TADs reported on highly effective risk management mechanism for control of priority transboundary animal diseases in Europe in the last several years, well accepted by many Delegates and colleagues particularly for ASF, LSD, and Rabies. Tripartite representatives talked about new opportunities of collaboration to better support of Member Countries for pandemics and confirmed the commitment of WHO, FAO, and OIE for intersectoral collaboration for the implementation of One Health concept in Europe with other partners, welcomed by all Members accepting responsibilities to lead partnership in the national context.
I use this opportunity to congratulate Dr. Monique Eloit for her extraordinary presentation of the OIE, and to thank her and her team for the excellent organization of this Conference.
I am glad to share with you the presentations and materials of the 29th Regional Conference for Europe”.
Dr. Maris Balodis,
President of the OIE Regional Commission for Europe
General Director of the Food and Veterinary Service,
Chief Veterinary Officer and OIE Delegate of Latvia
