Livestock trade takeholders follow proceedings at the workshop

DUBAI, UAE -- In a workshop convened by the African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on 13th to 16th June 2011, livestock export trade stakeholders from Middle East and the Horn of Africa agreed on measures to be taken to promote safe and stable inter-regional livestock trade.

The four days meeting brought together Chief Veterinary Officers (CVOs) of exporting and importing countries, private sector players including key livestock traders, quarantine station operators, Chambers of Commerce and international and regional organizations including ILRI, USAID, USDA, OIE, WHO, FAO, USAID, COMESA, IGAD and Islamic Development Bank (IsDB). It was officially opened by the Minister of Environment and Water of the United Arab Emirates, Dr. Rashid Ahmad Muhammad bin-FAHAD who was represented by Mr. Abdulla Salim Ahmad, the Executive Director of Animal Resources and Affairs. The technical team from AU IBAR was led by the Director, Prof. Ahmed Elsawalhy.

Among the recommendations from the meeting was that trading partners formalise and maintain continuous communication at all levels and that this process be further strengthened by the establishment of a Secretariat within AU-IBAR to coordinate meetings and moderate an electronic forum in collaboration with an appropriate counterpart, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) from the Middle East region.

During the meeting, the participants also encouraged exporting countries to put in place risk–based approaches to livestock certification that incorporates a people centered approach along the livestock value chain. The meeting also focussed on the regional harmonization for control of Rift Valley fever and other transboundary animal diseases that impact on trade and it was agreed that a program to promote the use of standard methods and procedures (SMP) based on OIE standards as the basis for harmonization and coordination of disease control and livestock trade activities in the Horn of Africa be put in place.

To further enhance livestock trade between the Horn of Africa and Middle East the workshop recommended that importing and exporting countries should endeavour to apply the trade facilitating measures already provided for in the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code such as the recognition of different sanitary measures required for trade in livestock and livestock products from countries having the same and different disease status as provided for under the principle of equivalence. The meeting also encouraged member states with support of AU-IBAR to enhance their animal welfare practices for livestock export.

Speaking during the opening ceremony, the Director of AU-IBAR, Prof. Ahmed Elsawalhy observed that food insecurity in the Horn of Africa has been aggravated by poor livestock productivity and suboptimal marketing systems and that this calls for appropriate and sustainable changes in policies, strategies and actions to urgently address this situation through a regional approach.

Other speakers at the opening ceremony included Dr Gideon Bruckner of OIE and Dr. Jeff Mariner of ILRI.

Trade in livestock and livestock products between the horn of Africa and the Middle East enhances the economy of the horn of Africa Countries and supplies essential products for the Middle East countries. However, due to animal disease problems (especially Rift Valley Fever), there have been recurrent livestock import bans by countries of the ME. These bans impact negatively on food security, increase poverty among the HoA pastoralists and exacerbate environmental degradation. These trade sanctions are also associated with increased informal trade that sharply raises disease risks to importing nations due to absence of disease control measures.

AU-IBAR has been implementing several interventions in the Horn of Africa to address the recurrent livestock import bans by importing countries in the Middle East for livestock from the Horn of Africa particularly Somalia during outbreaks of Rift Valley fever (RVF). Notable among the projects involved in these activities is the Somalia Livestock Certification Project (SOLICEP) whose objective is to improve the export performance of the Somali livestock subsector with funds from the European Union amounting to 2.8 million euro.

Participants at the workshop

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