Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Trade of aquatic animals and aquatic animal products: the use of OIE international standards for devising sanitary measures.
- Journal:
- Revue scientifique et technique (International Office of Epizootics)
- Year:
- 2019
- Authors:
- Bucher, K et al.
Plain-English summary
The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) creates guidelines to help countries prevent and control diseases in aquatic animals like fish and shellfish, as well as to ensure safe international trade of these animals and their products. Countries that import and export these animals should follow OIE standards to set health measures that protect both trade and animal health. A study looked at how well different countries are using these OIE guidelines in their laws, finding that while some countries have general health laws, others have more specific rules for importing aquatic animals. However, it was challenging to clearly link national laws to OIE standards. Overall, the study suggests that improving the clarity of these laws could help countries better follow OIE guidelines for safe trade.
Abstract
The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) develops international standards for the prevention, detection and control of aquatic animal diseases as well as the safe international trade of amphibians, crustaceans, fish, molluscs and their products. The Competent Authorities of importing and exporting countries should implement the OIE international standards by adopting the required legislation as this provides the basis for setting sanitary measures that ensure safe international trade, while avoiding unjustified sanitary barriers to trade. Based on an analysis of legislation notified by countries to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in the context of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement), the authors explore how and to what extent Member Countries use the OIE international standards when developing sanitary measures. The study develops an analytical framework for collecting and presenting countries' legislation to determine if a direct link can be demonstrated between national legislation and OIE international standards. Results show that OIE international standards are implemented through different categories of legislation which range from more general (those providing a general sanitary framework) to more specific (those setting requirements for the import of aquatic animals and aquatic animal products). However, the study illustrates the difficulty of identifying direct links between countries' legislation and OIE international standards. Nonetheless, this study is the first step in the design of an approach to better understand how OIE international standards are used by Member Countries to devise sanitary measures in the context of international trade. It further notes that increased transparency of national sanitary legislation can facilitate efforts to improve knowledge on the implementation of OIE international standards.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31866678/