Senior Legal Officer participates in OIE ad hoc group on veterinary legislation

On 23-25 January, Senior Legal Officer Sonia Drobysz participated in an ad hoc group on veterinary legislation at the World Organisation for Animal Health’s (OIE) headquarters in Paris.

The group met in the context of the OIE Veterinary Legislation Support Programme (VLSP) established in 2008 to help  OIE Member Countries recognize and address their needs for modern, comprehensive veterinary legislation. Composed of VLSP and biothreat experts, it reviewed Chapter 3.4 on Veterinary Legislation of the OIE Terrestrial Code first introduced into the Code in 2012 as well as VLSP tools. The objective was to assess their continued suitability and suggest additional provisions to help Member Countries develop a sound legal framework for effective control of biological threats in the veterinary domain. The objectives of the OIE Biological Threat Reduction Strategy, developed to address the threat posed by accidental and deliberate release of animal pathogens, guided the group’s discussions.