Examination of Witnesses (Questions 1140
- 1141)
TUESDAY 20 MAY 2008
Dr Bernard Vallat, Dr Alain Dehove, Dr Sarah Kahn
and Dr Alex Thiermann
Q1140 Lord Howarth of Newport:
I am just wondering whether the worldwide increase in food prices
that has been so spectacular in recent months may mean that the
moment is ripe to strengthen the drive to improve compliance with
standards country-by-country, because that 20 per cent loss of
output that you referred to in consequence of poor animal health
represents an enormous opportunity if we know how to seize it
in these circumstances.
Dr Vallat: Yes. As you know, this impression
of the lack of food worldwide is very recent. At the moment we
use the human health risk more as an argument to invest than this
argument, but now we will use this argument more and more—that
we can save 20 per cent of animal production if countries comply
with standards on the fight against animal diseases worldwide.
Q1141 Baroness Falkner of Margravine:
This is really about standards and your plea that the UN should
pass a resolution obliging members to implement OIE standards.
I want to go into bioterrorism and biosecurity as well. Are you
aware of other international organisation standards? And to what
extent do you co-operate with them? I am talking specifically
here about the OECD's best practice guidelines for biological
research centres and things like that. This leads into biosecurity.
While you have standards that you want adopted, to what extent
are you working with other organisations in areas where you have
synergies to bring about common standards or to have implementation,
at least, of common standards?
Dr Vallat: We are a unique organisation worldwide
entirely dedicated to animal health. For example, FAO have activities
on animal health but their mandate is food, to improve production
of food in poor countries. We have an agreement with FAO which
allows synergies in this field and we have a lot of common actions.
We have formal offices in Africa, for instance, the Centre for
Animal Health, which is commonly managed between OIE and FAO.
Our mandate is global standard-setting. We have a network of more
than 200 reference laboratories and collaborating centres entirely
dedicated to providing us with better methods to control and prevent
animal diseases. We think everybody recognises that we are the
leader worldwide in animal health and we provide to other organisations
what they need to implement specific programmes in the world.
In the field of bioterrorism, we have very good relations with
the Convention on Biological Weapons and we demonstrated to this
organisation that, if a country complies with standards on animal
health prevention published by the OIE, in the case of intentional
introduction of a pathogen in a country the early detection will
allow the event to be stopped very, very quickly. In a country
without a surveillance network we would have a disaster because
the spread of the pathogen would not be rapidly stopped.
Chairman: Thank you. I am afraid I am
going to have to stop it there. I am sorry, Lady Falkner, you
got squeezed at the end, but we will literally miss our train,
which is a very great pity, because what you are saying is immensely
important. If you think there is anything that we have left out,
anything you would like to elaborate on, any particularly important
points, then please write to the Clerk, Mr Preston, because we
really would like to hear it. With the expansion of global trade,
I think we are beginning to realise the immense importance of
the link between animal health and human health, and that is one
of the things that will come out in our report. Please, do not
hesitate to contact us with any further information that you or
your colleagues might have. Can I thank you once again for your
time. I would like to congratulate you on your excellent English,
which I have to tell you is far, far in advance of my French.
Thank you very much indeed.
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