Cross-border Collaboration in the Field of Highly Contagious Livestock Diseases: A General Framework for Policy Support

Abstract

This paper analyses the potential gains and the main challenges for increased cross-border collaboration in the control of highly contagious livestock diseases in regions with cross-border reliance on production and consumption of livestock commodities. The aim of this intensification of cross-border collaboration is to retain the economic advantages of cross-border trade in livestock and livestock commodities while maintaining a low risk of highly contagious livestock diseases. From these two foci, possibilities for future policy making with respect to highly contagious livestock diseases are discussed: peacetime cross-border cooperation to improve the cost-effectiveness of routine veterinary measures and crisis time cross-border harmonization of current disease control strategies. A general disease management framework was used to describe the way in which these two fields are related to and affect the epidemiological system and, consequently, how they impact the stakeholders. In addition to this framework, the importance of a good understanding of influencing factors, that is, the production structure of livestock, was stressed because these factors are important determinants of the frequency and magnitude of highly contagious livestock diseases and their economic impact. The use of the suggested integrated approach was illustrated for the extended cross-border region of the Netherlands and Germany, that is, North Rhine Westphalia and Lower Saxony. For this region, current difficulties in cross-border trade in livestock and livestock commodities and possibilities for future cross-border collaboration were examined. The concepts and ideas presented in this paper should foster future development of cross-border collaboration in animal health control.

Private animal health and welfare standards in quality assurance programmes: a review and proposed framework for critical evaluation

“…Countries differ with respect to the health status of their animals (Thomson and others 2009, Hop and others 2014). Consequently, public animal health standards have the potential to create barriers to transnational trade in animals and animal by‐products, particularly from countries of lower to higher animal health status.…”

A vertically linked dynamic partial equilibrium model to analyze market shocks caused by HPAI control in the Dutch egg production chain

“…Such analyses provide valuable information for ex ante decisions that go beyond mere veterinary control of HPAI, e.g. contingency planning which also considers the economic welfare of the entire sector (see: Horan et al, 2010;Hop et al, 2012).…”

A Framework for Categorization of the Economic Impacts of Outbreaks of Highly Contagious Livestock Diseases

“…Longworth and Saatkamp (), followed by for example Hop et al. (), developed a HCLD management framework which distinguishes three mutually exclusive stages a HCLD susceptible livestock population can be in: (i) HCLD‐free, (ii) High‐Risk Period (HRP) and (iii) post‐HRP. Veterinary control measures are only executed in the post‐HRP.…”