OIE official procedures and policy for Members wishing to apply
for recognition of animal disease status
In May 1994, the World Assembly of Delegates of the OIE requested the Foot and Mouth Disease and Other Epizootics Commission (now called the Scientific Commission for Animal Diseases) to develop a procedure for the official recognition by the OIE of the foot and mouth disease (FMD) free status of Members. The procedure has since been expanded to include official recognition of freedom from rinderpest, contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). In 1998, the official agreement between the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the OIE further confirmed the OIE’s mandate to recognise disease- and pest-free areas (Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures) for trade purposes.
Any Member that wishes to be included in the list of disease-free countries or to change its status (for example, to move from the list of countries or zones free where vaccination is practised to the list of countries or zones where vaccination is not practised) sends a request to the OIE Director General, accompanied by specific documentation and the relevant questionnaires (FMD, Rinderpest, CBPP, BSE). The Director General then submits the Member’s request to the Scientific Commission for evaluation. Documentation including appendices should be in any of the three official languages of the OIE and should be supplied in hardcopy as well as in electronic format (MSWord or PDF file).
Members wishing to submit dossiers for evaluation by the Scientific Commission should take note of the schedule of meetings of the Scientific Commission and ad hoc Groups. To facilitate work at the OIE Headquarters and for optimal consideration by the respective ad hoc Group, Members are kindly requested to submit their dossier and request 3 weeks prior to the scheduled meeting. The Bureau of the Scientific Commission meets in June of each year and meetings of the full Scientific Commission for Animal Diseases are held in September and February. Meetings of the ad hoc Groups for country evaluations are usually scheduled for the period from July to the end of January to enable sufficient time for the Scientific Commission to evaluate the recommendations of the ad hoc Groups and to circulate the tentative lists of countries, territories or zones recommended for the allocation of disease status, to Members for comment. The list of recommendations that will be submitted to the World Assembly of Delegates for adoption during the General Session in May each year is usually circulated to Members following the meeting of the Scientific Commission and not later than the month of February prior to the General Session to allow for the 60-day period for comments by Members.
The maintenance of a disease-free status is dependent on continued compliance with the requirements of the Terrestrial Code for that specific disease and immediate reporting by Members of any significant events that may change that status. Failure to comply could result in the deletion of the name of a Member from the official OIE list for that particular disease. Members are obliged to notify the OIE in writing during November of each year that the epidemiological situation in respect of each of the diseases for which disease-free status was allocated by the World Assembly of Delegates, has remained unchanged.
The detailed and updated framework of the procedures for Members for the official recognition and maintenance of status for FMD, CBPP, BSE and rinderpest are described in Resolutions XXII (procedure) and XXIII (financial obligations for official disease status recognition), both adopted during the 76th General Session. No payment is required for the evaluation of disease status for rinderpest.
OIE procedures for self-declaration by a Member of freedom from
OIE-listed diseases other than FMD, Rinderpest, CBPP and BSE
OIE Members also have the possibility to self-declare their entire territory or a zone within their territory free from certain OIE-listed diseases other than FMD, rinderpest, CBPP and BSE. In this case, Delegates are advised to consult the Terrestrial Code or the Aquatic Animal Health Code to verify whether specific requirements for self-declaration of freedom from that particular disease are available. By providing the relevant epidemiological evidence, the OIE Member can prove to a potential importing country that the entire country or a zone under discussion, meet the provisions of the specific disease chapter. Any submitted self-declaration should contain evidence demonstrating that the requirements for the disease status have been met in accordance with the OIE standards. The self-declaration of freedom from a given OIE-listed disease (other than FMD, rinderpest, CBPP and BSE) is under the responsibility of the Member concerned and the OIE is not responsible for inaccurate publication of self-declarations of country or zonal disease status based on inadequate information, changes in epidemiological status or other significant events that were not promptly reported to the Headquarters subsequent to the time of self-declaration of freedom for that given disease.
The self-declaration has to be signed by the Official OIE Delegate of the OIE Member concerned. The data provided must conform to the requirements described in the standard measures contained in the Terrestrial or Aquatic Codes, respectively. Upon request of the OIE Delegate, a self-declaration may be published in the OIE Bulletin for information of all OIE Members. The self-declaration for publication has to contain information demonstrating that the requirements are met as described in the OIE standards.