The OIE's Aquatic Animal Health Standards Commission met in October 2008 to discuss various issues including aquatic diseases and welfare of farmed fish during transport. Fourteen documents have been extracted from the October 2008 report resulting from that meeting and posted below.

When submitting comments please note the following due date and procedures:

• Due date of January 14, 2009 for comment submission on all of the attached documents to: Paul.G.Egrie@aphis.usda.gov
• The following 8 chapters below (provided in PDF format) are either new or have been completely rewritten, therefore, you may comment on any part of each document. Please identify the article or specific text in the chapter you are commenting on, propose new language (if any), and provide a scientific rationale for your proposed language.
  1. Quality and Evaluation of Competent Authorities
  2. Crayfish Plague
  3. Necrotising hepatopancreatitis
  4. Milky haemolymph disease of spiny lobsters
  5. Model International aquatic animal health certificates
  6. Criteria to assess the safety of aquatic animal commodities
  7. Criteria to assess the safety of aquatic animal products destined for human consumption
  8. Welfare of farmed fish during transport
• Other chapters include:
  1. General obligations related to certification
  2. Certification procedures
  3. Diseases listed by the OIE
  4. Definitions
  5. Handling and disposal of caracasses and waste
  6. Revised articles and example chapter
• If you do have comments on any of these documents, please utilize the following procedures in their preparation:
  1. identify the specific Article and text you are commenting on
  2. indicate the changes you believe should be made
  3. provide suggested language that should replace the changes you are making (if any)
  4. provide a scientific justification or rationale for such changes Always feel free to contact our office if you have any questions, and also, feel free to share these documents with others who you believe would provide constructive input

Again, please send all comments to Paul Egrie by January 14, 2009