RECOMMENDATIONS                                                                                        print

CONSIDERING

• That antimicrobial agents are essential tools for protecting animal health and welfare,
  
  
• That antimicrobial agents also contribute to satisfying the increasing world demand for safe food of animal origin, such as milk, meat, fish and eggs,
  
  
  
• That antimicrobial resistance is a global human and animal health concern that is influenced by both human and non-human usages of antimicrobial agents,
  
  
• The importance of good governance practices including national legislation and regulatory frameworks for import, marketing authorisation, production, distribution (including transport and storage) and use of quality veterinary medicinal products worldwide,
  
  
• The importance of strong Veterinary Services to promote the responsible and prudent use of antimicrobial agents in animals,
  
  
• The implementation of the OIE(1) PVS Pathway worldwide,
  
  
• The need to increase the capacity of all countries to conduct surveillance of antimicrobial resistance and monitoring of quantities of antimicrobial agents used in food producing animals,
  
  
• The necessity of international solidarity to help all Member Countries to effectively develop and implement measures for responsible and prudent use of antimicrobial agents in animals,
  
  
• The international standards and guidelines developed by the OIE and other international organisations such as Codex Alimentarius to promote the responsible and prudent use of antimicrobial agents in terrestrial and aquatic animals,
  
  
• The OIE List of Antimicrobial Agents of Veterinary Importance and the WHO(2) List of Critically Important Antimicrobials for Human Medicine,
  
  
• The network of OIE National Focal Points for Veterinary Products,
  
  
• The cooperation with Veterinary Statutory Bodies, the veterinary profession, and interested parties to ensure responsible and prudent use of antimicrobial agents in terrestrial and aquatic animals based on OIE standards,
  
  
• The Tripartite mechanisms between FAO(3), OIE and WHO for promoting the “One Health” concept,
  
  
• The active support of VICH(4) by the OIE,

THE PARTICIPANTS OF THE OIE GLOBAL CONFERENCE ON THE RESPONSIBLE AND PRUDENT USE OF ANTIMICROBIAL AGENTS FOR ANIMALS

RECOMMEND TO THE OIE

• To strengthen international cooperation through the Tripartite (FAO-OIE-WHO) approach to promote the responsible and prudent use of antimicrobial agents in humans and animals and to minimise the development and spread of antimicrobial resistance.
  
  
• To continue to develop and update OIE standards, the OIE List of Antimicrobial Agents of Veterinary Importance and policies on the responsible and prudent use of antimicrobial agents with the support of OIE Reference Centres and all relevant OIE experts.
  
  
• To assist Member Countries in strengthening their Veterinary Services and other competent authorities to promote good governance practices including national legislation and regulatory frameworks for import, marketing authorisation, production, distribution (including transport and storage) and use of quality veterinary medicinal products worldwide using, if needed, the OIE PVS Pathway.
  
  
• To encourage Member Countries and OIE Delegates to utilise their OIE National Focal Points on Veterinary Products to identify needs for national capacity building.
  
  
• To continue organising regional training seminars for OIE National Focal Points for Veterinary Products and invite FAO, WHO and stakeholders to participate.
  
  
• To assist Member Countries to conduct surveillance on antimicrobial resistance for animal and human pathogens.
  
  
• To collect harmonised quantitative data on the use of antimicrobial agents in animals with the view to establish a global database.
  
  
• To strengthen cooperation with Veterinary Statutory Bodies and the veterinary profession in Member Countries to implement responsible and prudent use of antimicrobial agents in animals.
  
  
• To explore and promote opportunities for more communication, collaboration and partnerships with relevant public and private interested parties from the human and animal sectors at international, regional and national levels.
  
  
• To encourage intersectoral collaboration and research to better understand and minimise the mechanisms of development of antimicrobial resistance and to develop new molecules.
  
  
• To promote international solidarity and advocate all potential donors to support developing countries to implement OIE standards on the responsible and prudent use of antimicrobial agents.
  
  
• To facilitate the participation of OIE Member Countries in the VICH Outreach Forum with the aim of adopting and utilising harmonised international guidelines related to the technical requirements for registration of veterinary medicinal products, to ensure the quality of these products.

RECOMMEND TO OIE MEMBER COUNTRIES

1. To ensure that the national Veterinary Services fulfil their responsibilities and, where needed, seek assistance through the OIE PVS Pathway to comply with the OIE standards.
   
2. To implement OIE and Codex Alimentarius international standards and guidelines related to the responsible and prudent use of antimicrobial agents and to follow the recommendations of the OIE List of Antimicrobial Agents of Veterinary Importance including recommendations on fluoroquinolones and on the third and fourth generation of cephalosporins that are considered to be critically important both for human and animal health.
   
3. To develop and set up an official harmonised national system for collecting data on the monitoring of antimicrobial resistance in relevant animal pathogens and quantities of antimicrobial agents used in food producing animals at the national level based on the OIE standards.
   
   
4. To contribute to the OIE initiative to collect data on the antimicrobial agents used in food producing animals (including through medicated feed) with the ultimate aim to create a global database hosted by the OIE.
   
   
5. To develop or update appropriate legislation and regulation on import, marketing authorisation, production, distribution (including transport and storage) and use of quality veterinary medicinal products in interaction with other relevant competent authorities and private interested parties, and to ensure their efficient implementation.
   
   
6. To encourage the Veterinary Statutory Bodies and the veterinary profession as a whole to develop, implement and ensure compliance with ethics and codes of good veterinary practices, with particular reference to the prescription and delivery of antimicrobial agents by well-trained veterinarians and veterinary para-professional under their authority.
   
   
7. To advocate the inclusion in the curriculum for pre-graduate veterinary education (Day 1 competencies) of knowledge on antimicrobial resistance, and of codes of good veterinary practices for the responsible and prudent use of antimicrobial agents in animals.
   
   
8. That the Veterinary Statutory Bodies have the capacity and authority to develop and to institute continuing professional development and continuing education programmes directed, in particular, at the responsible and prudent use of antimicrobial agents in animals (including companion animals and wildlife) and at related new technologies that will become available, including diagnostic tests.
   
   
9. To nominate, support and maintain national OIE Focal Points for Veterinary Products in their tasks and to ensure close contact with relevant WHO, FAO and Codex Alimentarius Contact Points.
   
   
10. To support developing and in transition Member Countries to strengthen their veterinary services, to implement good governance and legislation related to antimicrobial agents in compliance with OIE and Codex Alimentarius standards; and to help them to fight against the use of unlicensed/counterfeit products.
    
    
11. To contribute and to participate in global or regional cooperation aiming at developing measures for responsible and prudent use of antimicrobial agents in animals.
    
    
12. To promote good agriculture and aquaculture practices including the use of vaccines where applicable and interact with all relevant interested parties while ensuring compliance with OIE and Codex Alimentarius standards to minimise the development and spread of antimicrobial resistance.
    
    
13. To support relevant research to improve the understanding of the efficacy of current antimicrobial agents with the aim to prolong their usage while minimising the development of resistance, to develop new molecules and to find alternatives that could be used in animal production for antimicrobial agent substitutions.
    
    
14. To facilitate the market authorisation of new molecules and innovative technologies for antimicrobial agent substitutions, and to promote their use.
    
    
15. To develop risk assessment and to carefully evaluate practices of use of antimicrobial agents that are not intended to combat animal diseases.
    
    
16. To use VICH guidelines to ensure the quality of veterinary medicinal products registered at national level, and to follow closely the VICH Outreach Forum initiative.

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(1) World Organisation for Animal Health
(2) World Health Organisation
(3) Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(4) International Cooperation on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Veterinary Medicinal Products