The Bureau of Veterinary Service (VB) of the Ministry of Agriculture of China (MOA) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Emergency Center for Transboundary Animal Diseases Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ECTAD-RAP) jointly held a consultation on cooperation in transboundary animal diseases (TADs) control in Beijing on Feb. 3, 2015. The two sides reviewed achievements and experience in past years, analyzed the situation and tasks faced by veterinary service, and identified priority areas for future cooperation.
Mr. Zhang Zhongqiu, Director-General of VB applauded the cooperation in the control of animal epidemic diseases (highly pathogenic avian influenza, African Swine Fever, etc), the development of veterinary epidemiology and capacity building of labs, and spoke highly of the support provided by ECTAD-RAP. Mr. Zhang hoped that the two sides could improve the existing bilateral and multilateral cooperative mechanisms and broaden cooperative areas to jointly promote regional and global veterinary service with "an open mind' and "modern approaches'.
Mrs. Whitney, Representative of ECTAD-RAP said that China has a significant influence on animal health development at regional and even the world level. She hoped that China could enhance its leading role in TADs control in the region. FAO will further strengthen cooperation with MOA to jointly advance the healthy development of global veterinary service.
Other participants to the consultation included officials from Department of International Cooperation of MOA, Bureau of Veterinary Service of MOA and ECTAD-RAP and ECTAD China Office.