Animal Health and Animal Welfare
Standards
Measures on animal health seek to “assure the sanitary safety of international trade in terrestrial animals (mammals, birds and bees) as well as aquatic animals (amphibians, crustaceans, fish and molluscs) and their products. This is achieved through the detailing of health measures to be used by the veterinary and competent authorities of importing and exporting countries to avoid the transfer of agents pathogenic to animals or humans, while avoiding unjustified sanitary barriers.“ (OIE 2008 and 2009)
During the second half of the twentieth centurym, consumption and production of meat have increased steadily up to the point that the majority of today’s total meat capacity is produced in developing countries. Globalization, changes in livestock production and animal farming as well as increasing international trade also show their effects in fast and global spreading of animal-borne diseases. In the past two decades about 75 percent of human diseases were animal-borne (Brown 2004). The spreading of diseases from animals to humans, zoonose, includes recent examples such as the mad cow disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE), foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), avian influenza, ebola virus or swine flu (H1N1 flu).
According to the FAO, “diseases affecting livestock can have a devastating impact on animal productivity and production, on trade in live animals, meat and other animal products, on human health and, consequently, on the overall process of economic development” (FAO 2009). The need to protect the human population from animal diseases and to monitor these led to the establishment of an international and intergovernmental organization. As early as 1924, the “Office International des Epizooties” (French for International Epizootic Office", short OIE) was established in collaboration with the League of Nations.
In May 2003, the Office became the “World Organization for Animal Health” but kept its historical acronym OIE. The OIE today is a reference organization of the World Trade Organization (WTO) for animal health standards in international trade. The OIE’s mandate under the SPS agreements is to publish trade standards on animals, livestock and animal products. These also aim at enhancing animal welfare, securing food safety and monitoring global animal disease status. In detail, the OIE develops and publishes two types of standards: biological and trade standards.
- Biological standards include two groups: The Manual of Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines for Terrestrial Animals (mammals, birds and bees) and the Manual of Diagnostic Tests for Aquatic Animals (fish, mollusks and crustaceans). These manuals aim at the harmonization of disease diagnosis, the terrestrial manual further includes requirements for the production and control of biological products (mainly vaccines).
- The OIE trade standards include the Terrestrial Animal Health Code and the Aquatic Animal Health Code. These codes aim at assuring sanitary safety, food safety and animal welfare by providing definitions and regulations for veterinary services or other authorities in exporting and importing countries. Each government is encouraged by the WTO to establish its own national regulations on animal health, based on the OIE’s specifications. However, when introducing national sanitary measures which result in higher standards, governments have to provide scientific justification.
Voluntary standards may include requirements that go beyond legal regulations, e.g. de-boning of beef from BSE-free countries, although this is not required by OIE guidelines or national regulations. However, higher standards regarding livestock and animal food trade mostly relate to issues of animal welfare. As animal welfare requirements are process-related, these are not entailed in the provisions of the SPS Agreement. The concept of animal welfare also includes an ethical dimension and is related to the well-being of animals and the abolition of cruelty and exploitation in animal production. In 2005 the OIE established the first global guidelines on animal welfare which especially relate to animal transport, slaughter for human consumption and animal killing for disease control purposes. Other national and international regulations, however, encompass higher standards on animal welfare. Especially in developed countries and in particular in Europe, the concern over the quality of animals’ life is increasingly stimulating demand for products with high standards on animal keeping and animal welfare. The EU legislation thus includes several stricter animal welfare measures e.g. on the space allowances, transport rules and slaughter of farm animals, with some EU member states having even more rigid national rules.
Existing voluntary initiatives with high standards on animal welfare include for example organic certification. Another private standard that includes animal health and animal welfare measures is e.g. GlobalGAP.
Author: Ruth Holtz
References:
Brown, C. (2004). Emerging zoonoses and pathogens of public health significance – an overview. In L. King (Ed.), Emerging zoonoses and pathogens of public health concern, Scientific and Technical Review (OIE), 23 (2), 435-442.
FAO (2009). Livestock and animal health. FAO, Animal Production and Health Division: http://www.fao.org/ag/againfo/themes/en/animal_health.html.
Fraser, D. (2008). Toward a global perspective on farm animal welfare, Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 113 (4), 330-339.
OIE (2008). Terrestrial Animal Health Code. Paris: World Organisation for Animal Health.
OIE (2009). Aquatic Animal Health Code 2009. Paris: World Organisation for Animal Health.
OIE (2009). The OIE International Health Standards. Paris: World Organisation for Animal Health.
Thiermann, A.B. (2005). Globalization, international trade and animal health: the new roles of OIE, Primary Veterinary Medicine, 67 (2-3), 101-108.
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