EU and its partners supports training of livestock quarantines practitioners in Somalia

Source: Hiiraan Online
Tuesday July 11, 2017

Nairobi (HOL) – The European Commission in partnership with African Union – InterAfrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) Enhancing Somali Livestock Trade (ESOLT) Project and the IGAD Centre for Pastoral Areas and Livestock Development (ICPALD) Standards, Methods and Procedures (SMP-AH) Project implemented a training program to improve the governance of procedures used when Somali livestock is quarantined.

45 participants from the Federal Government of Somalia, Puntland, Somaliland as well as stakeholders were given a crash course on the theory and practice of standard quarantine operational procedures.

The 5-day training was held from 2-6th July 2017 at the IGAD Sheikh Technical Veterinary School (ISTVS) in Somaliland.

The Commission contribution amounted to €50,000 for the 5-day training.

At the end of the seminar, participants are expected to be familiar with the knowledge and skills needed for a quarantine operation and preventative measures to mitigate against the risk of exporting live animals with Transboundary Animal Diseases (TAD), enhance communication and cooperation between the staff of the various quarantine stations.

The training ceremony was formally opened by State Minister of Somaliland Ministry ofLivestock Hon. Engineer Abdi Rashid Mohamoud Ali, alongside other delegates from Puntland and Mogadishu.

The Minister welcomed the participation of Somaliland representatives and noted the essence of harmonising procedures within the Somali export quarantines as a way of addressing the ban on livestock trade.

Dr. George Matete, the ESOLT project coordinator acknowledged the role of the European Union as the largest donor to livestock projects in Somalia. He also noted that there has been a capacity gap that needs to be failed and Somalia has livestock trade has slowed tremendously in recent years.

Somalia’s biggest national export is livestock, mainly to Middle Eastern and Gulf countries.

Other members of the panel strongly emphasized the need for a uniform livestock certification and animal trade in the horn to better comply with international requirements. Quarantining a sick animal has proven to be an effective method for improving the quality of export animals and can ultimately minimize the recurrent livestock ban placed on Somalia.

Ultimately, organizers hope that the with the implementation of the ESOLT project will result in an increase of livestock exports, raising the quality of the products and expanding to new international markets.

Recommendations

•    The workshop recommended the need for development partners to expeditiously organize a meeting as soon as possible, between the Somali ministers, the Chief Veterinary Officers (CVO’s) of importing countries (Gulf countries plus Egypt) importers, exporters, quarantines owners and chambers of commerce, to negotiate lifting the ban and the sustainability of trade. Both AU-IBAR and the Regional Economic Block IGAD through ICPALD should initiate bilateral negotiations between importing and exporting countries based on scientific base with transparency to share ideas as well as bilateral understanding under the umbrella of the IGAD.

•    The meeting recommended the need to build the capacity building for the public sector veterinary services to regulate animal inspection and certification particularly within quarantine stations as per their mandate as well as to promote effective communications between the different Somali entities and all livestock stakeholders. Such trainings should include for all value chain practitioners in the field of animal welfare.

•    Activate the quarantine network established by IGAD for all Somali quarantines for continuous communication, exchange of information and expertise.

•    Implement continuous capacity building and awareness for the livestock traders and owners and a biosecurity plan for the quarantine stations.

•    Encourage the use of the OIE website to get updated rules and regulations and domesticate such  OIE international standards, guidelines and recommendation in their legal framework for trade of live animals and all related issues this is in the light of the recent demand from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that quarantine period be extended to 30 days as an export requirement – a potential trade barrier.