On December 7th, 2022, the TAFS Forum held a virtual meeting, with the support of Foro Mercosur de la Carne, on the need for a paradigm shift of the official FMD-free with vaccination status.
About60 participants attended the event, including representatives from the livestock industry, academia, governmental institutions from all over South America and international organizations.
Following a stakeholder workshop held in Buenos Aires, in April 2022 and a virtual workshop with members of Foro Mercosur de la Carne in August 2022, this was the third event organized by TAFS on this topic.
In this virtual meeting, the different South American stakeholders were updated on the global FMD epidemiological situation, and the progress made towards the achievement of a paradigm shift of the perception of the FMD-free status with vaccination. The invited speakers explained, from different perspectives, why a change of paradigm is not only reasonable and necessary, but also why there are no longer any scientific reasons to distinguish between the two FMD-free statuses, with or without vaccination. During the open discussion at the end of the virtual meeting, all the participants agreed that there are no reasons to treat the two statuses "FMD-free with vaccination” and “FMD-free without vaccination" differently and that “FMD-free is FMD-free, regardless of vaccination status.”
On 27-28 April 2022, the TAFS Forum organized a “Workshop on a Paradigm shift of the ‘FMD-free with vaccination’ status” in Buenos Aires, Argentina with the support of Fundación PROSAIA, Confederaciones Rurales Argentinas, Asociacion Rural del Uruguay and Consorcio de Exportadores de Carnes Argentinas.
The objective of the workshop was to initiate a discussion among stakeholders from the meat industries in Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay on the equivalence of the “FMD-free with vaccination” status to the “FMD-free without vaccination” status. In the workshop, a position paper that provides the justifications for why the “FMD-free with vaccination” status should be considered to have equivalent safe sanitary value as the “FMD-free without vaccination” status was discussed in detail for agreement and improvement.
It was the first workshop of additional workshops to follow to continue the discussion with international stakeholders and to determine the way forward towards equivalency between the “FMD-free with vaccination” and the “FMD-free without vaccination” statuses.
The TAFS Forum is organizing a workshop on a paradigm shift in the global perception of the “FMD-free with vaccination” status with the support of PROSAIA, CRA, and ABC in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 27-28 April 2022.
The purpose of the workshop is to initiate a discussion among regional actors in the production and meat value chain on the equivalence of the "FMD-free with vaccination" status to the “FMD-free without vaccination” status. Stakeholders in South America are invited to discuss topics such as the advantages and disadvantages of opening trading markets with countries that are “FMD-free with vaccination” and the safeguards that would need to be in place.
It is the first workshop of additional workshops to follow to continue the discussion with international stakeholders and to determine the way forward.
For more information on the event, please contact Patrik.Buholzer@tafsforum.org.
The TAFS forum is seeking new members. If you are interested, please contact us and describe what you might be able to contribute to the TAFS forum. We look forward to hearing from you.
