(Tehran, Iran) The 3rd ECO Head of Veterinary Organizations Meeting and the First Technical Steering Committee Meeting for early establishment/Operationalization of the ECO-VECO has been held in the Iranian capital in a bid to increase trade of animal and animal products within the ECO region.
The three-day event was inaugurated on October 6, 2018 by the head of Iran's veterinary organization, Alireza Rafieipour with the participation from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan and representatives from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.
In his speech to the session the ECO Secretary General, Dr. Hadi Soleimanpour, emphasized on the need of the countries of the region to cooperate in areas such as the prevention and control of diseases which threaten animal production, public health and trade through regional networks. Member States should strive to formulating roadmaps and allocating certain budgets to combat the spread of dangerous livestock diseases within and across international borders, he said.
The session saw representatives from ECO Member States, review the scale of Transboundary Animal Disease (TAD) and their eradication in the ECO region. They also discussed the means for effective functioning of the ECO-VECO, including initiating practices that lead to increased trade in animal and animal products in the ECO region. The delegates elaborated on the priority areas of the ECO-VECO for the years 2019 to 2024.
