Canada, United States agree on application of zones to allow safe trade in the event of an African swine fever outbreak

[On May 22, 2019], Canada's Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO), Dr. Jaspinder Komal, working in collaboration with the United States' CVO, Dr. Jack Shere, issued the following statement:

"We are pleased to announce that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have agreed to allow safe trade to continue in the event African swine fever (ASF) is reported in either country.

For business continuity, Canada and the United States have worked to modify their export certificates to allow trade of live swine, swine semen, pet food and animal by-products and meat to continue trade in approved disease-free zones in the event of an ASF outbreak. This builds on Canada and U.S. zoning arrangements entered into by CFIA and USDA on August 15, 2018, which set out principles for zoning and trade.

Zoning is an internationally-recognized tool used to help manage diseases and facilitate international trade. If a case of ASF is identified, geographic boundaries are defined to contain the outbreak. These geographic boundaries are control zones established in accordance with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) guidelines. The areas outside of these control zones are disease-free zones..."

This was excerpted from a 22 May 2019 news release by Canadian Food Inspection Agency.