Speech for Hon. Chuck Strahl, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board
To the World Organisation for Animal Health 75th General Session
Paris, France
May 20, 2007
Check against delivery
Thank you for Mr. President for your kind introduction.
President O'Neil, Director General Bernard Vallat, Honourable Minister's, Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, it's an honour for me to address this 75th general session of the OIE.
All countries, including Canada, benefit from the OIE.
In an increasingly complex international reality of disease risk and an increasingly global marketplace, one country's problem can very quickly end up on the doorstep of not only its neighbour but also another country half way around the world. Therefore we collectively benefit from the transparency and timeliness of disease detection and reporting.
We also benefit from the OIE's science-based standards development. It provides a framework for safe, fair and predictable international trade based on safeguards for animal and public health agreed to by member countries.
As a partnership of member states, the OIE derives its strength from the scientific competency and capacity of its member countries, and the quality of the contributions of the delegates such as the men and women here today.
The accomplishments of the OIE are a credit to the contributions made by current and past delegates and their commitment to the protection of animal, human and eco-system health within the borders of their countries and beyond.
Speaking on behalf of the Government and people of Canada, I am proud to say that our country supports the OIE because we are deeply committed to science-based policy and regulations on animal and human health, and to protecting animal and human health. And those commitments are being translated into concrete action, not only within Canada, but internationally.
I would like to share with you several examples of investments being undertaken in Canada to develop new programs and approaches which we are hopeful can be transferred or shared with other countries in support of global security and prosperity.
We are advancing a comprehensive and inclusive national animal health and welfare strategy. This will be a first for our country. We want to enhance animal health across all sectors in Canada. This strategy will do that by integrating and aligning all the principles, policies, and approaches that guide public and private sector investments and decisions on animal health and animal welfare risk management, across all animal populations, and their interface with the human population.
It will be a comprehensive strategy that emphasizes prevention and capacity building for early detection of disease. It recognizes that just managing risks within our own borders is not enough. And it recognizes that we must look beyond just farmed animals in our disease control efforts. All animals-including wildlife, aquatic animals and companion animals- must be part of the strategy to ensure public security, prosperity and sustained public confidence.
These themes-prevention, looking beyond our own borders and outside our usual species-guide many of our animal health activities at home and internationally.
In Canada, we wholeheartedly support the work of the international community on avian and pandemic influenza preparedness. We participate in and, I am proud to say, provide leadership and support in many areas of the international effort to manage the risks associated with these diseases.
At home, we are busy refining and testing our response plans to avian and pandemic influenza in collaboration with our Provincial partners. Canada is currently working with the United States and Mexico to finalize The North American Plan for Avian and Pandemic Influenza, which will outline how the three countries will work together to combat an outbreak of avian influenza or an influenza pandemic on a continental basis. Canada was responsible for drafting the Avian Influenza chapter of this plan.
We are also concentrating on prevention by making sure our large-scale poultry producers and our small flock owners are aware of the steps they can take and their obligations to enhance biosecurity and reduce the risk of disease.
It is crucial for all of us that we respond to developing risks in all animal populations. For example, as Canada and its trading partners became increasingly aware of aquatic animal disease risks associated with the trade of aquatic animals and their products, it became evident that Canada needed a strong, science-based regulatory program in this area. As a result, Canada developed a national aquatic animal health program. Of course, it is guided by the health measures set out by the OIE.
Furthermore, Canada is establishing a Veterinary Reserve Force to provide additional surge capacity to augment the trained veterinarians employed by the Government services. This pool of private sector veterinarians will be able to assist all government jurisdictions in Canada in responding to animal health emergencies such as disease outbreaks, civil emergencies or natural disasters.
Equally important, it will also provide Canada with additional flexibility to increase its support for international animal disease control efforts to address disease emergence and emergencies at their origin elsewhere in the world before they become global issues.
Canada is also committed to science-based regulations that are implementable and respectful of the evolution of scientific understanding and standards. In the past year we have amended our import regulations for bluetongue and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy. We also published new regulations in July last year to further enhance our mammalian to ruminant feed ban to prohibit the use of specified risk materials in all animal feeds, including pet food and fertilizer which become fully enforceable in July this year.
Looking to what we are doing internationally, Canada has recently posted four Veterinary Medicine Technical Experts at Canadian embassies in key locations around the world. These veterinarians will establish and maintain direct contacts with their foreign counterparts, to promote awareness and understanding of the integrity of Canada's animal and food inspection systems.
At the same time, they will assess inspection methods and systems adopted in other countries in support of our efforts for continuous improvement. In addition they will enhance our disease intelligence gathering and facilitate our ability to respond in a more measured and rationale manner to disease outbreaks in other countries. This will permit Canada to consider the application of zoning or compartmentalization sooner.
I bring up these examples of Canada's actions on animal health protection to show our deep commitment to the objectives of the OIE.
The OIE's ability to meet its objectives is tied directly to the contributions of member states and to the quality of the scientific information that is used to develop international policies and standards. I believe both aspects of this challenge require considerable attention.
Science is of paramount importance not only to our capacity to protect animal and public health, but also to the OIE itself.
There can be no doubt that science-based standards, policies, and protocols have driven the OIE's success. Similarly, the future effectiveness of the organization also depends on a commitment to science.
I mentioned earlier that Canada recognizes that countries must look beyond their own borders in the effort to control animal and zoonotic diseases. That is why Canada is so supportive of the OIE plans to build veterinary services capacity in developing countries.
The Government of Canada through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has provided $11 million dollars to the OIE World Animal Health and Animal Welfare Fund to support its fight against avian influenza and other emerging zoonotic diseases.
A significant portion of the money will contribute to conducting assessments of veterinary services and veterinary infrastructure in OIE member countries for which there is a tremendous cost benefit for us all.
From my perspective, Canada has made a wise investment.
And we call on the OIE to further increase its efforts to encourage and participate in establishing collaborative mechanisms among key international organizations. This will help create the most comprehensive, effective, and efficient response to mitigate emerging animal and zoonotic diseases, and the movement of these diseases around the globe.
The funds will also serve as seed money to further support twinning of national laboratories with OIE International Reference Laboratories and could well attract investments from the World Bank and other donors for other capacity-building projects.
Over the long term, I'm convinced the world will realize another benefit from bolstering the scientific and veterinary capacity of developing countries. The benefit stems from the fact that science is necessarily a collaborative undertaking. Scientific progress relies on fresh theories and critical thinking. Increasing the number of countries that conduct world-class research can only enhance our understanding of animal-health issues.
As the number of countries contributing to global scientific knowledge increases, so too will the strength of the OIE.
Again, as a collective organization, the OIE relies on the active participation of member states. The OIE's scientific capacity resides in member states. While we are extremely proud of the fact that Canada is home to twenty OIE reference laboratories and collaborating centres, we are equally aware that such expertise must be accessible, that it must be enhanced, and that it must be geographically balanced around the globe.
In conclusion, as a country that is committed to the mandate and objectives of the OIE, Canada feels that it is very important that delegates accept responsibility for improving the effectiveness of this organization, and for protecting national and global animal and public health. Your assignment is to motivate, facilitate, and integrate.
You must motivate national governments and domestic producers and stakeholders to support the OIE in its transparency and reporting; to contribute to standards development; and to respect and implement the standards adopted.
You must facilitate the open exchange of information among public agencies, private companies and animal industries and the access by the OIE to scientific capacity.
And you must integrate the resulting OIE standards and guidelines into the work of your countries' representatives who are responsible for setting standards through the WHO and Codex to ensure coherence at the international level.
With further increases in global trade, climate change, pathogen adaptation, and changes in human and animal population demographics, the profile and importance of the OIE will only grow.
The OIE must continue to be the world's mediator and standard-bearer in all matters related to animal health and animal welfare. The OIE outcomes of social and economic security-and member country veterinary services-are good for all of us. This success must continue because there is much at stake.
Success requires that the OIE have access to the best science and that accurate, current information inform its standards. Success also requires that all countries participate in, and contribute to the OIE. We must work together for the benefit of all peoples.
Thank you.