Chairs:	A. Thiermann, United States Department of Agriculture (USA) V. Moennig, School of Veterinary Medicine Institute of Virology (FRG)
Date:	October 5-6, 2000
Location:	Federal Agricultural Research Centre, FAL Braunschweig

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Final Statement Following the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade), the World Trade Organization (WTO) has sought to regulate and simplify world trade, including the international trade in animals and products of animal origin. In 1994 the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement (SPS) was signed. The animal sanitary aspects of this treaty are based on scientific recommendations and the standards of the Office International des Epizooties (OIE) in Paris. However there are still unresolved fundamental questions that pose future challenges, such as animal welfare, the environment and questions arising from the new biotechnology. There are vast discrepancies in international opinion, and often rich nations are accused of attempting to raise unjustified trade barriers with new regulations and standards. In this area it is essential - as in the animal health sector - that recognized international organizations develop scientific standards and rational methods for solving these problems.As some of these problems are also important for animal health, it would be make sense to increase the scope of authority of the OIE accordingly.