Improving pig biosecurity and African Swine Fever (ASF) control in 4 ASEAN countries: Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Philippines
The purpose of the project is to help Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Philippines to control the spread of Swine African Fever (ASF) and consequently to secure trade in pork and pork products. The project aims at strengthening the implementation of SPS measures (control) and at implementing biosecurity (prevention). This will primarily be done through the training of official veterinarians (trainings of trainers’ model), mostly face-to-face, as well as through the development and deployment of an educational training platform (digital application) for farmers, and a face-to-face training of central laboratories staffs.
Since the first outbreak in China in August 2018, the ASF has spread at great speed in the Southeast Asian region, hitting Vietnam (February 2019), Cambodia (April 2019), Laos (June 2019) and Philippines (July 2019), leading to the death of millions of pigs and hindering the region's trade in pork products, which are essential to the population's diet and food security.
There are unique challenges to dealing with the disease in Asia given the high density of pigs, complex value chains and many other high impact endemic swine diseases. Tackling ASF requires a regional approach in Asia.
The prevalence of ASF in the region has led to increased pork imports in the countries affected by ASF. Import controls therefore need to be strengthened to better control the spread of the disease. Because ASF is a highly contagious animal disease, improving overall biosecurity measures remains the main barrier against the spread of the virus, as pointed out by the Permanent Expert Group on ASF for Asia (GF-TADs) in November 2019, with needs for awareness-raising, training, technical support for producers, quality control and traceability, etc.
Controlling communicable transboundary disease threats such as ASF requires strong capacity for surveillance, risk assessment, laboratory diagnostics, risk communications, and response across both public and private sectors.
Result 1: Improved understanding of the SPS standards to be implemented by official veterinarians with regards to ASF
This result will be achieved by providing official veterinarians with face-to-face training in France as well as online training in the 4 countries. These will cover a diverse array of topics such as:
- Improving early detection, early warning, and rapid response
- Preventing the occurrence of ASF and reducing its potential impact on pig farms
- Developing policies, strategies and plans for the control of ASF in accordance with OIE standards
- Foundations of the SPS agreement and how to follow the evolution of international standards on ASF
- Negotiating the sanitary conditions of import and export in the context of ASF
- Designing health certificates (export), checking health certificates (import).
Result 2: Better competitiveness of the pig industry thanks to a better knowledge about SPS requirements and the implementation of good agricultural and manufacturing practices.
The project will design an educational training platform made up of technical e-learning modules allowing actors of the pig industry to self-train and self-assess their knowledge. The educational engineering will be innovative and based on the collection of needs, feedback, field observations and exchange of experiences. Face-to-face trainings will also be conducted.
Result 3: Improved diagnostic methods for the analysis of cross-border animal diseases, including ASF.
The project partners will identify the capacity building needs of central animal health laboratories and provide face-to-face trainings to better prevent and control ASF. The expertise of ANSES (The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety) and ADILVA (The French Association of Directors and Managers of Public Veterinary Analysis Laboratories) will be called upon to carry out the training courses for the staff of the central laboratories.
| Attachment | Size |
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 STDF/PG/798 - Application Form | 784.68 KB |
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