Following the Executive Order 13759 by which the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) has been designated as a Public International Organization entitled to enjoy certain privileges, exemptions and immunities, the OIE announced today that it will establish a liaison office in the United States of America later this year. Created in 1924, the OIE’s missions are: (i) to ensure transparency in the global animal disease situation, (ii) to safeguard world trade by publishing health standards for international trade in animals and animal products, and (iii) to encourage international solidarity in the control of animal diseases in particular by improving the legal framework and resources of national Veterinary Services. With respect to its standard setting mandate, the OIE is recognised as the reference organisation for animal health and zoonoses by the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Over the past few years, the OIE has developed a number of activities to foster improved interaction with interested stakeholders through Public-Private Partnerships. These partnerships will seek to stimulate increased investments in animal health and welfare, as well as the establishment of development programmes targeting the livestock sector.
This OIE U.S. office will be kindly hosted by the Institute for Infectious Animal Diseases based in College Station (Texas) – a unit within the Texas A&M University System that was recognized as an OIE Collaborating Centre in the domain of biological threat reduction in 2014.
The OIE office is expected to open on October 1, 2017 with the aims of increasing collaboration, establishing partnerships and maintaining donor relations with several U.S. State Agencies and Departments as well as organisations based in the United States of America that have an interest in global animal health and animal welfare. This office will also offer support to the OIE Headquarters based in Paris (France) accomplish the OIE’s Sixth Strategic Plan (available here).
The OIE currently has a total of 181 Member Countries and 12 Regional and Sub-Regional Representations located on each continent.
Headquartered in College Station, Texas, IIAD was founded in 2004 as a DHS Science and Technology Center of Excellence. The Institute focuses on research, education and outreach to prevent, detect, mitigate and recover from transboundary, emerging and/or zoonotic diseases, which may be introduced intentionally or through natural processes. In 2014, IIAD was recognized by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) as a collaborating centre in the specialty of biological threat reduction. IIAD is the only centre of this kind in OIE’s America’s region and the only OIE collaborating centre within the Texas A&M University System. For more information, visit iiad.tamu.edu.