Global Animal Health and Food Security Policy
At the Intersection of Environment, Animal Agriculture, and Food Security
Topic: Climate Change and Livestock - the Science, Politics, and Beliefs and
how they may affect food security.
Date: May 14, through May 18, 2012
What are intergovernmental organizations?
Intergovernmental organizations are the formal mechanism in which sovereign
countries develop policies and mechanisms for cooperation across national
borders. They usually organize across geographic regions or on global scales.
They are not governments and generally cannot make laws, interfere with
sovereign rights, or enforce agreements. In general, their standing as an
organization is to create a forum to promote compliance with agreed upon rules
and policies and develop principles and programs that support intergovernment
cooperation and dispute resolution.
Global Intergovernmentals:
For issues and policies related to animal
health, food security, public health, development, and global trade, the five
principle organizations are:
FAO and WHO are United Nations organizations and a subset of the United
Nations membership (not all UN country members are members of FAO and WHO. OIE
is not a UN organization but it is country member governed though commercial and
independent interest groups can be members. Traditionally, the country's
delegate to the OIE is the Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO). WTO is not a UN
organization, also nation member governed. WTO focuses on developing global
trade agreements and importantly has a role in mediating disputes among member
nations on violations of these trade agreements. WTO partners with FAO, and OIE
to establish the rules for trade in agricultural products. These agreements are
the Sanitary Phytosanitary Standards (SPS)
http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/agrm4_e.htm
An annex to the SPS names OIE, the
FAO Secretariat of the International
Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), and
FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius to develop
the standards for animal health, plant
health, and food, respectively. The
World Bank is not a bank in the
conventional sense, it is made up of two
development institutions owned by 187
member countries and is "a source of
financial and technical assistance to
developing countries around the world".
Americas Intergovernmentals:
Nearly all regions of the world have organizations that uniquely address the
needs and concerns of that region. The Americas (North, Central, and South) have
a set of institutions that mirror the global intergovernmental organizations or
are a subset of them.
The principle intergovernmentals we will investigate are:
The Organization of the American States (OAS) is the general organizational
body for the 35 independent states of the Americas-the UN equivalent in the
Americas. It has chartered two organizations with specialty focus: the Pan
American Health Organization (PAHO) which is affiliated with WHO and
Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) which is
affiliated with FAO. The OIE has a Regional Commission of the Americas. There is
no WTO equivalent in the Americas. Regional trade issues have tended to be dealt
with using bilateral trade agreements (country to country) rather than trade
across the region. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is an example
of such a trade agreement although it is a tri-lateral agreement that includes
Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The most recent bilateral trade agreement
("trade promotion agreement") under consideration involving the US and an
Americas partner is with Panama
http://www.ustr.gov/countries-regions/americas/panama . The IDB is the main
source of multilateral financing and expertise for sustainable development in
Latin America and the Caribbean.
Bilateral Relationships Between Countries:
Countries create formal relationships with each other and establish a
presence in partner countries by creating a diplomatic presence usually through
the establishment of embassies or consulates. Washington DC has 174 resident
embassies. The diplomatic presence in a country provides two essential services:
support their citizens and their interests in the host country and to provide a
point of information for citizens of the host country wishing to work with or
visit their country. Trade and commerce are important efforts that many
diplomatic missions support.
If you have questions please contact Bill Sischo
wmsischo@vetmed.wsu.edu
