03 July 2018, Beijing, China. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has established a multilateral collaboration with the Government of the People’s Republic of China and five other countries in Southeast Asia to control the spread of trans-boundary animal diseases (TADs).  The FAO-China South-South Cooperation (SSC) Regional Project on Transboundary Animal Disease Control in the Greater Mekong Subregion was launched during a meeting in the Chinese capital Beijing on 3rd July 2018.

The project, valued over USD 3 million, is funded by the government of China through a trust fund under the framework of FAO-China SSC Programme and implemented by FAO. Being the first regional SSC project since the establishment of FAO-China SSC Programme in 2009, it strongly advanced FAO and China’s joint efforts to further promote their partnership in making synergies of FAO’s Strategic Objectives and China’s “Belt and Road Initiative”, hence contributing to achieve the goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs). 

China has been one of the most active participators, major promoters and generous contributors of FAO’s SSC. Since 2009, China has contributed USD 80 million to FAO and established the FAO-China SSC Trust Fund, which was a milestone in the FAO-China partnership development and promoted the cooperation to a new level. As of July 2018, twelve national, three inter-regional and two global SSC projects have been successfully implemented around the world with financial support by the FAO-China SSC Programme.

The new project will involve veterinary institutes from the five Southeast Asian countries (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam) to work alongside Chinese experts and specialists from FAO to improve mechanisms and develop capacity to manage animal movements along the borders.  These countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion with similar climatic conditions and socio-economic factors, continue to report outbreaks of significant transboundary animal diseases including those with high economic impacts such as Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and swine diseases, including Porcine Respiratory and Reproductive Syndrome (PRRS) and Classical Swine Fever (CSF). These diseases and their spread, particularly FMD, have amounted to billions of dollars in losses annually for the region.

The project will include a programme of vaccination, animal movement control, quarantine, public awareness campaigns, enhanced surveillance and reporting and coordination among trading partners so as to lead to safer trade to reduce the risk of new diseases spread.

More information can be found at FAO in China website: http://fao.org/china/news/detail-events/en/c/1143806/