International Standards

OIE INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS
  • OIE (Office des Internationale Epizooties)  is the world organization for animal health, established in the year 1924 (http://www.oie.int). It has its head quarters in Paris, France. It formulates the international standards for their development, content and implementation. Aquatic Animal Health Code was first published in 1995. The health measures in the code takes into account the nature of the commodity and the animal health status of the exporting country.

OIE International standards

OIE develops and publishes

  • Health standards for the prevention and control of animal disease as well as for the safe of trade of animals and animal products = codes.
  • Biological standards for diagnostic test and vaccines = manuals
  • The four OIE standards are:
    • The Terrestrial Animal Health Code
    • The Manual of Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines for Terrestrial Animals
    • The Aquatic Animal Health Code
    • The Manual of Diagnostic Tests for Aquatic Animals

OIE trade standards

  • The two OIE trade standards, the Terrestrial Animal Health Code and Aquatic Animal Health Code aim to assure the sanitary safety of international trade in terrestrial animals (mammals, birds and bees) and aquatic animals (fish, molluscs and crustaceans), and their products.
  • It helps in the health regulations for the safe importation of animals and animal products.
  • It helps to avoid the transfer of agents pathogenic to animals and/or humans, without the imposition of unjustified trade restrictions.

OIE biological standards

  • The Manual of Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines for Terrestrial Animals was first published in 1989. This manual provides a harmonised approach to disease diagnosis by describing internationally agreed laboratory diagnostic techniques. The aims of the Manual are to provide general information on sampling methods, good laboratory practice, etc and to provide detailed information for laboratory technicians on diagnostic tests.

Aquatic Animal Health Code

  • The Aquatic Animal Health Code was first published in 1995. The diseases listed in the Aquatic Code , clinical signs in fish are not pathognomic and subclinical infections may occur. Reliable diagnosis of fish diseases depends on the specific identification of pathogens by laboratory methods. These methods, which are suitable for the diagnosis of disease as part of national aquatic animal health surveillance/control programmes, form the main contents of the Aquatic Manual.
  • The 13th edition of the aquatic animal health code incorporates glossary; diseases listed by the OIE; criteria to assess the safety of aquatic animal commodities; measures concerning international transport of aquatic animal disease agents and pathological material import risk analysis; quality of Aquatic Animal Health Services; zoning and compartmentalisation; control of hazards in aquatic animal feeds; general obligations related to certification; certification procedures; control of aquatic animal health risks associated with the transport of aquatic animals; model international aquatic animal health certificates; welfare of farmed fish during transport; address the application of compartmentalisation; welfare aspects of stunning and killing of farmed fish for human consumption; control of antimicrobial resistance; and handling, disposal and treatment of aquatic animal waste. Aquatic Animal Health Code has,
    • A brief description of the disease, the susceptible host species, and standards for diagnostic tests and vaccines;
    • Lists of the requirements which should be met by a country, zone or compartment in order to achieve a certain disease status, eg. free country, free establishment, restoration of free status;
    • Articles containing the recommended health measures to be applied to commonly traded commodities, taking into account the likelihood of the pathogen being transmitted through that commodity and the disease status of the exporting country, zone or compartment.

The following additional principles apply

  • The importing and exporting countries are in compliance with their various World Trade Organization (WTO) obligations;
  • The latest scientific information is used;
  • The health measures are based on an assessment of the risks presented by the commodity being traded;
  • An evaluation of veterinary services or other competent authorities has been conducted;
  • Zoning and compartmentalisation are being applied where appropriate;
  • Claims by importing and exporting countries regarding their health status are based on sound epidemiological surveillance.
  • Model international veterinary and aquatic animal health certificates are also provided in the aquatic animal health code manual .

OIE's Specialist Commissions

  • The development of these standards and recommendations results from the ongoing work of one of the OIE's Specialist Commissions, the OIE Aquatic Animal Health Standards Commission. This Commission, which comprises five elected members and two observers experienced in methods for surveillance, diagnosis, control and prevention of infectious aquatic animal diseases, meets twice yearly to address its work programme. The Commission also draws upon the expertise of internationally renowned specialists to prepare draft texts for new chapters of the Aquatic Code or revise existing chapters in light of advances in veterinary knowledge
Last modified: Monday, 28 November 2011, 8:51 AM