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Basic Paper Conference: Forum 9: Global Trade: Basic Paper Safeguarding Animal Health in Global Trade The purpose of this workshop is to define the criteria and be able to evaluate the proper conditions for safeguarding animal health while preserving a safe and fair global trade in agriculture under the prevailing socio-economic and scientific conditions. In the current marketplace, international travel and trade have not only made international borders irrelevant, but have also dramatically increased the risks of introduction of exotic diseases. Significant advances have been made in the last five years as a result of the completion of the Uruguay Round of the World Trade Organization (WTO). As part of the signing of the WTO Agreement in Marrakech in 1995, some 130 trading nations ratified the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement (WTO-SPS Agreement). This Agreement establishes the rights and obligations of each trading country for the purpose of protecting public, animal and plant health without resulting in unjustified trade restrictions. In doing so, the WTO recognized three International Standard Setting Organizations as the only relevant scientific bodies for providing the standards, guidelines and recommendations necessary for health protection. For the purpose of animal health, the WTO recognizes the Office International des Epizooties (OIE) as one such expert organization. The historic signing event in Marrakech has completely changed the rules of the game when it comes to international trade in livestock and their products. Countries still retain their sovereign right to establish measures to achieve their chosen appropriate level of health protection. However, they also must adhere to specific disciplines aimed at avoiding unjustified and discriminatory trade restrictions. The full benefit of this Agreement will only be reached once all trading countries fully understand the conditions of this Agreement, and are committed to its full implementation. This has also increased the importance of the animal health standards developed by the OIE, resulting in an urgent need to update existing standards and establishing new ones in those areas of trade importance. It is under this scenario that we must examine the best scientifically acceptable conditions for safeguarding animal health and preserving a sustainable animal production without creating unjustified restrictions to global trade. The challenge is high, and the demands on the animal production sector are constantly increasing, both from consumer concerns as well as from an environmental point of view. Our task will be to identify and address these issues and provide an acceptable response. In general terms, we find demands coming from two different worlds. One has to do with the responsibility to have a system capable of meeting the needs of a rapidly growing world population accompanied by a food crisis. The total available land for agricultural production is not increasing, while the food demand is. Food is being produced far away and by countries very different from those with the population explosion. On the other side, we have the responsibility to respond to a very affluent world with high demands for food quality, increasing concerns for food safety and the desire to export and impose their own morality in agricultural production on others. Only four years after the start of the implementation of the WTO-SPS Agreement we have already seen significant improvements in agriculture trade. Through timely notifications at SPS Committee meetings many potential trade disputes have been resolved informally. The most flagrant trade violations have been eliminated and consumers worldwide are benefiting from increased diversity of safer food and more reasonable prices; and developing countries as well as developed ones are experiencing the opening of new markets. However, this is not enough. Not all countries are fully aware of their obligation under this Agreement. There are even others who are still trying to bypass these obligations or give them new legal interpretations. We all have the obligation to safeguard animal health, while making sure the existing rules of the game are not being violated. As part of the Agreement on Agriculture signed in Marrakech in 1995, there is the commitment to initiating a new round of negotiations five years later. The time has come for this new round to be initiated, and this will take place in the form of a Ministerial meeting in Seattle, Washington in late November,1999. At this time, high-level officials from all WTO Member nations will meet and agree on an agenda for the next round. We expect that many of the currently pending trade issues will be discussed and decisions will be made as to how and when to address them in a global forum. Some of these pending issues have potentially a direct impact on our topic of safeguarding animal health in global trade. Therefore, these should be considered by our scientific community for discussion in our workshop and conference in order to provide input to the ongoing negotiations. A brief description of the most salient of these issues follows: Biotechnology: This new technology with significant potential benefits to agriculture in general deserves a fair and scientific evaluation. Each individual product derived through this technology must be carefully examined for its benefits and potential risks, not unlike what has been done to similar advances in biologics through this same technology. Failure to do this will deprive global agriculture of needed new tools for addressing the above-described food crisis. It will also continue to create unjustified trade barriers. Consumer Concerns: Especially in the developed world there has been an increased awareness on the part of consumers and a demand for inclusion in the decision making process. The active and early participation of such consumer groups should be welcomed, as it offers early buy-in and support for upcoming changes in trade as it relates to food safety and quality. However, it is the responsibility of governments and the scientific community to educate such groups on the ground rules of global trade, before they can fully engage in the negotiation process. Animal Welfare: This is a topic recently receiving great attention, especially by the countries of Northern Europe. This subject will have to be discussed during the upcoming Millennium Round. However, this will have to be addressed within the general framework of the WTO, making sure that it does not become a new disguised barrier to trade. One must not forget that the provisions of the WTO-SPS Agreement already cover all animal welfare issues with direct implication to the health of animals. One must make sure that efforts in this area are aimed at addressing the wellbeing of animals and do not become just exports of morality and cultural preferences by certain countries. Environment: The agriculture and livestock production sector certainly has an obligation towards the protection of the environment. However, as in animal welfare, this issue must be discussed within the general rules of the WTO in order to prevent the creation of new and unjustified barriers to global trade. Aquaculture: While this is not an issue as politically controversial as others, it is an area with great potential threats to this new form of agriculture. This rapidly growing industry lacks the experience and the scientific guidance to prevent the introduction of exotic diseases across continents as a result of trade in live animals and their products. We must develop standards, guidelines and recommendations for the safe handling of these commodities. The OIE serves as the forum for this standard development; however, it is our scientific community and the commitment of government officials that can make this possible. Organic Foods: A popular subject among the affluent countries deserves attention and transparent standards. Without proper standards this form of agriculture has the potential of becoming yet another unjustified trade barrier, but more importantly it can threaten food safety if not properly controlled and regulated. Precautionary Principle: This recent concept has raised great concern among the more active trading countries. It requires clarification and a clear definition in order to avoid its misuse by serving as a new alternative to existing obligations under the WTO rules. Current provisions of the WTO-SPS Agreement already provide guidance as to what a country can do in terms of trade requirements when not enough scientific information is available. Antibiotic resistance: While there is increasing concern about the presence of antibiotic resistance by human and animal pathogens, it is our responsibility to make decisions based on the best scientific knowledge available. Only after careful risk analysis of the use of antimicrobials in animals and humans can we determine the culprits of such resistance. We cannot afford to lose the efficacy of needed antibiotics in human medicine, but we cannot suspend the use of valuable animal production tools without proper scientific justification, either. We are therefore left with the big challenge of coming up with effective measures to prevent the introduction of exotic diseases as a result of international trade. We must also address the prevention and control of the spread of newly emerging diseases as well as the re-emergence of old diseases, all of which seem to be on the increase. You are invited to participate in this forum to develop current and effective measures to safeguard animal health in global trade. Alejandro Thiermann |