Navigating the Future: WOAH's Code Commission Seminar Unveils Key Standards and Initiatives

On the 20^th of December 2023, the WOAH Regional Representations for Europe, Africa, and the Middle East organized an online seminar for Members from these three regions to present the report of the WOAH Terrestrial Animal Health Standards Commission (Code Commission) from their last meeting in September.

After an opening by Dr Budimir Plavsic, Regional Representative for Europe, Dr Etienne Bonbon, President of the Code Commission, provided a comprehensive presentation, based on the objectives of this seminar:

• To increase Member’s engagement in the WOAH standards-setting process;
• To inform WOAH Members on texts circulated by the Code Commission for comment, their background, and rationale.
• To improve exchanges between the Specialist Commissions and WOAH Members.

During the webinar, details were given about the state of play of the Commission’s work program, about texts currently up for comments and proposed for adoption in May 2024, including glossary definitions, listed diseases, standards on AMR, Animal welfare, collection of genetic material, disease-specific requirements for 11 separate animal diseases, and precisions on the use of terms designating official veterinarians.

Participants were also reminded about the standard-making process, the steps WOAH takes to ensure transparency in this process, and the importance of their full implementation.

Dr Trevor Drew, vice president of the Scientific Commission for Animal Diseases (SCAD), also participated in the webinar and provided significant input on behalf of SCAD.

During the discussion, it was explained that the new comment publication process aims to improve the transparency of the process, with the final goal being the open publication of the revision process. In addition, participants were reminded that when the code gives precise instructions for disinfection, product treatment, and control measures, it is generally open to equivalent measures being taken by Members. Countries should, however, demonstrate this equivalence.

Following this discussion, Dr Ali Alhosani, WOAH Sub-Regional Representative for Arabian Gulf, closed the seminar, reminding participants that Members have until the 29th of December 2023 to submit comments as described at the end of the presentation.

As suggested by participants, the next webinar will be organized earlier (e.g. in November 2024) to better fit members’ needs and a timeframe to submit comments on the proposed text. Provisionally, the WOAH team will manage it in the second week of November.

The full report of the September meeting of the TAHSC is available here.