The goal of global eradication of most TADs is unachievable for the foreseeable future, other than in the case of rinderpest, and this hinders many developing nations, from engaging in international trade under WTO rules. This study proposes an alternative, Commodity based approach to the formulation of international animal health and food safety standards, and based on the fact that different commodities pose very different risks when it comes to the spread of human and animal pathogens. De-boned beef from which lymph nodes and risk material associated with bovine spongiform encephalopathy have been removed, is a product which can be produced for safe international trade irrespective of whether the locality of production is recognised as free from transboundary diseases or not. Further processing of such beef provides an additional safety factor. However, this approach requires specific control measures being in place, supported by appropriate auditing and certification procedures.
Therefore, the risk mitigation strategies required are equally commodity-dependent. The idea is that an array of alternatives can be used (principally processing, including processes associated with complex food products) so that animal disease (and human food safety) hazards are reduced to acceptable risk levels. This study presents the arguments supporting this concept and details how safety in respect of both animal diseases and human food safety can be achieved using an integrated HACCP (hazard analysis & critical control points) approach.
In an era of globalisation, international trade in livestock and livestock products continues to be seriously hindered by epizootic animal diseases, in particular those categorised as ‘transboundary animal diseases’ (TADs). These diseases have a substantial impact on the economies or food security of a number of countries, spread rapidly and require cooperation between countries for effective control. Zoonotic potential is a further important factor in the categorisation of TADs (Thomson and others 2003). The ‘List A’ diseases of the Office International des Epizooties (OIE) are a group of TADs that are judged, on a global basis, to be the most important disease constraints to trade in livestock and livestock products (OIE 2003). The OIE has indicated its intention to review the classification of animal diseases at the end of 2004 and List A will consequently be discontinued (Veterinary Record (2004).
In the industrialised world, the devastating effects of TADs are epitomised by the events following the introduction of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) into the UK in 2001. Direct and indirect losses were estimated to have resulted in a 0·2 per cent reduction in gross domestic product in 2001, and direct costs approaching £3·5 billion (Thompson and others 2002). Other recent TAD episodes in Europe include classical swine fever (CSF) in the Netherlands and Germany (Mangen and others 2001, OIE 2004), and highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Italy and the Netherlands (Capua and Marangon 2003, OIE 2004). These events demonstrate the risks involved in both legal and illegal trade in livestock and livestock products, and in many industrialised countries measures to counter these risks are under constant review (Veterinary Record (2004).
