From August 22 to 24, the second bil®¶ateral meeting on thγπe prevention and control of cross-border ®δγ Animal Diseases and public Health was hel& d in Ha Long, Vietnam, focusing on stu≈€♣₽dying and implementing the req $♠uirements of the cooperatio•<σ n Agreement on animal health and quar©>λantine and the Memorandum of Understa×β nding on animal health cooperation b∞ •∞etween the two gover∑>♣nments, strengthening jo↔≠≤≈int prevention and control of cross-border×♠β animal diseases, and protecting the safety of φ¥™livestock production and §™✔ public health of the two cφ↔'δountries. Deputy Director Hoang Vih Trong∑÷λ of the Veterinary Department of₽∑© the Ministry of Agriculture and Direcσσtor Pham Van Thong oφ±φf the Veterinary Department of the Ministry★©☆ of Agriculture and Rural Developme↓φ₽♦nt of Vietnam attended and addressed the meet£™ ing.
During the meeting, China and Vie←∑>≤tnam exchanged information on the capacity build♣♥&↓ing of their respective veterinary manag♠ε>ement systems and veterinary service systems, ≈₹analyzed the natural ecological envi±↔→'ronment and economic and social facto∞↕λ♥rs affecting the border area, an ₹₹d put forward the basic∑✘↑ concept of establishing an epidemic contr∞γol area (epizone). The two sides will> take joint prevention and control measures suc§αh as epidemiological inv✘✘£estigation, joint epid$Ωαemic surveillance, immunization assα∞↓essment and timely information sha≥σring to effectively reduce the risk of a ☆vian influenza, foot-and-mouth diseaΩ€se and blue-ear disease of pigs, "¥∑≥and jointly improve an≈ imal health and public health securit÷$€y in border areas.
China and Vietnam share a long borde>>∑εr with similar natural and ecological characteris ≠±tics in neighboring provinces. In recent years,¥£≤ the large number of animals and animal pro✘®ducts circulating through non-port chan♦¶nels, border exchanges and other ♦σ♠channels has not only increas♣✘ed the risk of cross-border animal diseases, b≥π εut also increased the difficulty and co↔®©©mplexity of joint border §✔'prevention and control. On the basis of t± ₽he Memorandum of Understanding ✘←★εon cooperation in the pr★≠evention and control£σα of cross-border animal diseases in ¥the Greater Mekong Subregion in 2005 and the agr★"eement on cooperation in aniΩ♣mal quarantine and animal health signed betweφ≤↔en the governments of the two coun∞☆↓tries in 2008, the veterinary bureaus of the ← σtwo Ministries of Agriculture signed a&ε memorandum of unders•> tanding on cooperation in animal health in 201€©σ2, clarifying the specific co☆ ∏$ntents of promoting all-round ve¥©εterinary cooperation. Veterinary department÷€δγs of Guangxi and Yunnan provinces have undert×®aken a number of techn★≈ical cooperation projects with V$λ<ietnam, training technicians for €<Vietnam's border provinces and setting up experi↑✘₩mental stations for animal disease prev☆♦ε∏ention and control. The conv✔™αening of this meeting is not only ₹ a comprehensive summary of the veterinary ©✘→cooperation between China and Vietnam i"≤σn recent years, but also a strong boost ±₹¥to the practical and efficient cooperation between the two sides in the¶©§ field of veterinary medicine.
The Food and Agricultur×↔e Organization of the United ×γ©Nations (FAO) and the U≥♦nited States Agency for International DevelΩopment (USAID) have paid close att✘γ§≈ention to and provided technical and financ≈$∏ial support to the cross-border animal disease p㧕revention and control cooperation between C ✘δhina and Vietnam. Nearly 60 representativ♣÷•es from FAO in China and Vi∑♥etnam, USAID, as well as the Chinese and Vietna<$→ mese Ministries of A'♠✘griculture, veterinary departments of bor™§der provinces and releva₹♥£nt veterinary laboratoriesπ₹© attended the meeting.