REGION RAISES BARRIERS TO FOOT AND MOUTH AND MAD COW DISEASES

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is planning to develop a harmonised regional strategy to manage and minimise the risk of Foot and Mouth and Bovine Spongiform Enceaphalopathy, BSE, (Mad Cow) diseases, as part of the Region's agricultural health and food safety activities.

This is the main focus of a two-day meeting of Chief Agricultural Officers and Public and Health officials, which opened at the CARICOM Secretariat in Georgetown, Guyana, on 27 March, 200l.

In his opening remarks, Deputy Programme Manager, Agricultural Development Section in the CARICOM Secretariat, Ronald Gordon, said the Region must do its utmost to protect and maintain the area as a disease-free Region in light of the threat to the economies of Member States posed by the Mad Cow and Foot and Mouth Diseases.

This meeting will not only examine planned risk management and measures relating to these diseases that affect regional herds. Participants will also review conditions governing trade in animals and animal products; production and trade practices; and animal health issues impacting on livestock production, including poultry and small ruminants.

Mr. Gordon said that since these issues impact on both the public and private sectors, the Secretariat sought to involve industry representatives in the meeting, with the understanding that the stronger the cooperative ties forged with industries and participants, the more effective will be the implementation of the measures agreed upon.

At the opening ceremony, Guyana's Technical Adviser to the Ministry of Fisheries, Crops and Livestock, Dr. Steve Surujballi, reviewed efforts by Caribbean countries to stay free of the Foot and Mouth Disease. He reiterated Mr. Gordon's position that the Region must maintain that status.

Regional veterinary and public health agencies have benefitted from technical cooperation assistance from the Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO), the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), and the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO). As such, the participants will review emergency preparedness plans with respect to exotic animal diseases, and sharpen reaction to the Foot and Mouth Disease, while ultimately reducing the level of risk.