Canada's Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO), Dr Jaspinder Komal of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), issued the following statement regarding Canada's participation at the G7 Chief Veterinary Officers' (CVO) meeting and the 87^th General Session of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) in Paris, France, from 24 to 31 May:

"At the G7 CVO meeting I presented a framework outlining actions to prevent the entry and mitigate the impacts of African swine fever (ASF) in the Americas. The framework was developed in collaboration with international partners, provinces, US and Canadian industry, and validated at the ASF Forum held in Ottawa from 30 April to 1 May, 2019. At the G7 CVO meeting, Canada was recognised for its global leadership in convening the Forum and in spearheading the development of a strategic approach to ASF.

"During the General Session of the OIE, I also presented the outcomes of the ASF Forum at a meeting of the OIE Commission for the Americas Region. All 31 countries represented in the region affirmed their commitment to keeping ASF out of the Americas and recognised the framework as a valuable resource in advancing the global strategy on ASF.

"Following a presentation on the challenges around controlling ASF globally, the OIE received a mandate from members to address the disease by improving regional, national and global coordination. It was resolved that the OIE, with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), would lead a global strategy on ASF in compliance with the relevant OIE standards. The new mandate will support the formation of expert networks and research alliances around the world. This action will build closer cooperation to address our global response to ASF.

"Furthermore, with colleagues from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) I met with representatives from the OIE to review Canada's contributions to its World Fund and discuss the status of projects led by the fund. ASF-specific work was identified as an immediate priority for Canada, and we will target our future contributions to support this work.

"Collectively, the Americas have made progress in prevention and preparedness to keep ASF out of the region. But our work is not done. We will continue to collaborate with governments, industry and other stakeholders to take action to address the threat of ASF while protecting Canada's swine population and the economy."