Pretoria - South Africa is set to benefit immensely from the revisions to the African Horse Sickness (AHS) Code Chapter recently adopted at the General Assembly of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) in Paris.
According to the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), the new guidelines will greatly improve the way in which countries infected with African horse sickness are able to export their horses - something that South Africa has been negotiating for a number of years.
The new AHS Code will be published by the OIE in due course.
The South African Horse Industry, the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) and the University of Pretoria contributed to the drafting of the chapter.
Racing South Africa CEO, Peter Gibson, said this was a significant breakthrough for South Africa, "whose horse export industry has been hamstrung by the past rules which failed to properly address the real risk of exporting the AHS virus".
Racing South Africa's horse export strategy has focused on two major themes pertaining to AHS, which are changing the regulations and improving the science.
"We are extremely grateful to the South African Veterinary Services for their efforts on behalf of South Africa's equestrian industry and the team that supported them, in particular Professor Alan Guthrie and Dr Beverley Zietsman," said Gibson.
The 80th General Assembly OIE was attended by more than 600 participants representing OIE member countries as well as international, intergovernmental, regional and national organisations.
The assembly also adopted chapters that will serve as international guidelines on trade on animals and animal products.
For the first time in many years, the assembly adopted a chapter on welfare considerations for livestock production.
The meeting discussed, among others, the matter of "One Health" approach to disease control, which recognises the importance of addressing new and emerging animal diseases as a critical element for food security, health protection and economic prosperity.
"One of the chapters adopted was on Guidelines on African horse sickness, from which South Africa is set to benefit. The department wishes to congratulate its veterinarian Dr Botlhe Modisane, who was elected into the council of the OIE for a period of three years," said Bokaba.
