14th REMESA JPC Meeting

Under the auspice of the co-presidency of Italy and Jordan, the 14th meeting of the REMESA Joint Permanent Committee was held in Naples (Italy) on July 19-20.

The meeting was chaired by the two co-presidents, Dr Romano Marabelli (CVO of Italy), Dr Majed Hazz’a Abdulqader Alhawaosha (Representative of the CVO of Jordan), along with the Deputy Director General of the OIE, Dr Jean- Philippe Dop, and the representative of the FAO, Dr Ahmed El Idrissi. It was attended by the Chief Veterinary Officers (CVOs) of REMESA member countries or their representatives (Algeria, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia) and representatives from International and Regional Organisations: Dr Francesco Berlingieri, DG Health and Food Safety (European Commission), Mrs Faouzia Chakiri, Head of Division, Directorate of Food Security (Arab Maghreb Union), Drs Keith Sumption and Nadia Rumich, EuFMD. Dr Ghazi Yehia, OIE Regional Representative for the Middle East, also attended the meeting, which was organised by the Joint Secretariat of REMESA, the OIE Sub-Regional Representation for North Africa (Dr Rachid Bouguedour) and the FAO Subregional Office for North Africa (Dr Mohammed Bengoumi).

The agenda included the epidemiological situation of diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), avian influenza, vector-borne diseases such as lumpy skin disease, bluetongue and Rift Valley fever and their evolution in the Mediterranean area. The REMESA member countries discussed the topic of the regional FMD vaccine bank and it was proposed to the representatives of international organisations to think about an implementation scheme. During the second day of the meeting, one session focused on international trade, including the new Trade Facilitation Agreement adopted by the OIE and the WCO, which entered into force recently, and gave rise to a debate in order to identify challenges and opportunities on trade of animals and animal products. In addition, the OIE and FAO presented during the session dedicated to antimicrobial resistance the standards and the tools used in the fight against antimicrobial resistance. Finally, information was provided on recent workshops on biothreat and rabies, as well as on the “One Health” network in which CIRAD is involved and the REEV-Med whose secretariat is provided by the OIE Sub-Regional Representation for North Africa.

The next meeting will be held in Jordan during the second half of 2017.

Working session.

Opening ceremony. From the left to the right : Dr Jean- Philippe Dop (Deputy Director General of the OIE), Dr Majed Hazz’a Abdulqader Alhawaosha (CVO of Jordan), Dr Romano Marabelli (CVO of Italy), Dr Ahmed El Idrissi (Representative of the FAO Headquarters), Dr Antonio Limone (Director General of IZS Mezzogiorno).

All pictures © J. Mérot (oie) 2017, unless mentioned otherwise