Working Group on Antimicrobial Resistance

    Terms of Reference

    The Working Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (hereafter, the “AMRWG”) was established by the Director General following Resolution No. 14 adopted at the 87th WOAH General Session, in 2019 following the OIE 2nd Global Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance; the AMRWG replaced the ad-hoc group on Antimicrobial Resistance to ensure the sustainability of WOAH Strategy on Antimicrobial Resistance and Prudent Use. The AMRWG is expected to maintain a global perspective and foresight on antimicrobial resistance regarding animal health and the interface with human health, food production and the environment, under a One Health approach.

    Purpose and responsibilities

    The AMRWG is responsible for:

    1. Supporting WOAH in the implementation of its Strategy on AMR and Prudent Use of Antimicrobials and its four-pillar workplan: improve awareness and understanding; strengthen knowledge through surveillance and research; support  good governance and capacity building at country and regional levels; encourage the implementation of international standards.

    2. Supporting WOAH and its Members when implementing the recommendations made during the 2nd Global Conference on AMR and Prudent Use of Antimicrobial Agents: Putting Standards into Practice (Marrakesh, October 2018).

    3. Assisting the Director General and Specialist Commissions to identify risks and risk management options associated with AMR through development and maintenance of International Standards in the Terrestrial and Aquatic Animal Health Codes and Manuals.

    4. Providing advice and input to WOAH when addressing  important issues not yet addressed in its work programme, including AMR in the context of pandemic preparedness.

    5. Providing technical advice and feedback on WOAH activities related to AMR and where relevant, veterinary products in aquatic and terrestrial animals conducted at global, regional and country levels. These activities may include:

    • update and refinement of Quadripartite’s Global Action Plan and its related workplan in anticipation of UNGA 2024 and follow up Quadripartite workplan;
    • supporting activities of WOAH Collaborating Centres related to veterinary medicinal products and AMR and encourage the establishment and implementation of an effective network of expertise in support of the WOAH and its Members;
    • support and advise WOAH in its interactions and collaborations with the broad network of animal and veterinary public health sector partners and stakeholders to achieve strong coordination on AMR within this community of interest;

    6. Assessment and provision of feedback on ways to improve synergy and complementarity and avoid overlap and duplication of WOAH activities with the work/ activities of other organisations.

    Membership

    1. All members of the AMRWG shall be specialists recognised at an international level, and shall be selected for their competence (i.e., more than 15 years of work expertise on AMR in animal health and related sectors such as agriculture, food production, or environment, ideally across sectors, following a One Health approach); this competence may have been acquired whilst working in veterinary practice, academia, competent authorities and/or private sector.

    2. In addition to the aforementioned expertise recognition, membership should lead to a balanced and adequate geographic representation, as well as a balanced representation in gender.

    3. Identification of candidates will be done through consultation of WOAH Collaborating Centres, reference laboratories, regional and subregional offices, relevant organisations or any other stakeholder within WOAH’s network. This process may include setting up an open call for expression of interest. AMRWG Secretariat will gather resumés and other relevant documentation provided by candidates, for further consideration by the Director General.

    4. Members will be appointed by the Director General for a period of 3 years with a possibility to extend its mandate based on the level of engagement and extent and quality of work conducted by the member within the AMRWG.

    5. At each annual Session, the Director General shall report its composition to the World Assembly of Delegates (“the Assembly”) for information.

    6. In the exercise of their functions, members shall serve WOAH exclusively; in that capacity they may not request or receive instructions from any government or authority external to WOAH.

    7. Members shall provide the Director General with a statement covering potential conflicts of interest between themselves and any commercial entity in accordance with the procedure established by the Director General.

    8. Members shall respect the legitimate confidentiality of information with which they may be entrusted in the performance of their functions and shall submit such an undertaking to the Director General.

    9. The AMRWG should be composed of at least a Chairperson, a rapporteur and not less than two other ordinary members at any given time.

    Mode of Operation

    1. The AMRWG will meet at least four times per year:

    • twice in-person, usually in March/April and September/October;
    • twice virtually, usually in January/February and June/July).

    These meetings will be open to members of the Veterinary Products & Drug Resistance (VPDR) Department, as well as to members of other WOAH departments, or relevant external stakeholders, when deemed relevant for the purposes of the agenda.

    2. Routine business between meetings should be addressed by the AMRWG or a subgroup of the AMRWG via email exchanges with the support of the Secretariat.

    3. The AMRWG will revise and assess the progress of their workplan during its biannual meetings.

    4. The AMRWG shall normally reach decisions by consensus; if consensus cannot be reached, then input may be requested from specialist commissions, or from the DG for clarification via the Secretariat.

    5. The operating language of the AMRWG will be English.

    6. The AMRWG will provide an update of their activities to the Director General and to Members during the WOAH General Session.

    7. The AMRWG will provide a written report of its meetings and teleconferences to the WOAH Director General. The reports will be available for WOAH Members on the organisation’s website.

    8. The Director General may request individual AMRWG members to participate in AMR related ad hoc Groups or Subgroups, or to represent WOAH in relevant meetings or conferences.

    9. The Working Group will develop and subsequently revise an annual work plan based on priorities identified by the WOAH Director General.

    10. Representatives of  FAO,  UNEP and WHO will be invited to participate as active observers in the WOAH AMRWG biannual meetings at their own cost.

    11. Representatives from relevant private sector organisations that have a cooperation agreement with WOAH may also be invited to participate as active observers, depending on the agenda, at their own cost.

    Chair

    1. The chair shall be selected within the AMRWG and appointed by the Director General.

    2. The chair liaises with the Secretariat on behalf of the AMRWG.

    3. The chair revises and approves the agenda compiled by the Secretariat for the AMRWG biannual meetings.

    4. The chair moderates the AMRWG biannual meetings with support of the Secretariat and enumerates the agreed actions and decisions made by the AMRWG to be included it is meeting report.

    5. The chair is responsible for reporting the AMRWG activities to the DG and to Members during the WOAH’s annual General Session with support of the Secretariat.

    6. The chair is responsible for providing updates on ongoing revision of WOAH Standards to relevant Commissions when required with the support of the Secretariat.

    7. The AMRWG Chair will maintain additional regular communication with the WOAH AMR and VP Department and other Departments as appropriate.

    Rapporteur

    1. The rapporteur will be appointed by the chair at the beginning of each meeting.

    2. Within one week of receiving the draft report from the WOAH secretariat, the rapporteur will:

    • review the draft report and provide relevant input on meeting discussions and actions.
    • circulate the draft report to the other AMRWG members, collate and add their feedback or suggestions.

    Secretariat

    1. Preparing  and sending  formal meeting invitations on behalf of WOAH to members of the AMRWG and observers (FAO, UNEP, WHO) via email. Delegates where AMRWG members reside will also be included for information.

    2. Coordinating venue needs for face-to-face meetings.

    3. Assisting in the collation and preparation of meeting working documents and agenda with the input of the AMRWG chair.

    4. Preparing meeting report drafts under the oversight of the AMRWG rapporteur. The meeting reports shall be reviewed by the AMRWG Chair and the Head of the AMR and VP Department. The final report shall be signed off by the DDG and translated into the WOAH official languages.

    5. Providing assistance in the preparation of technical documents developed by the AMRWG and ad hoc groups.

    6. Updating the AMRWG webpage with meeting reports and technical documents.

    7. Facilitating communication between AMRWG and specialistic Commissions.

    8. Animating the AMRWG during the whole year, fostering cohesion and engagement.

    Responsible: AMR-VP Department

    Members
    Work plan

    This workplan is filtered by planned and ongoing tasks only, which were discussed and agreed during the AMRWG meeting in March 2026.

    For further information on completed tasks, please contact the AMRWG secretariat [email protected] or [email protected].

    Meeting reports
    DateReportDocument
    March 2026Report of the Working Group on Antimicrobial ResistanceReport_Mar_2026
    Sept-Oct 2025Report of the Working Group on Antimicrobial ResistanceReport_Sept-Oct_2025
    April 2025Report of the Working Group on Antimicrobial ResistanceReport_Apr_2025
    October 2024Report of the Working Group on Antimicrobial ResistanceReport_Oct_2024
    February 2024Report of the Working Group on Antimicrobial ResistanceReport_Feb_2024
    October 2023Report of the Working Group on Antimicrobial ResistanceReport_Oct_2023
    July 2023Report of the Working Group on Antimicrobial Resistance Report_July_2023
    June 2023Report of the Subgroup on the revision of Chapter 6.10. ‘Responsible and prudent use of antimicrobial agents in veterinary medicine’Report_June_2023
    March 2023Report of the Working Group on Antimicrobial ResistanceReport_Mar_2023
    October 2022Report of the Working Group on Antimicrobial ResistanceReport_Oct_2022
    August 2022Report of the Working Group on Antimicrobial ResistanceReport_Aug_2022
    July 2022Report of the WOAH Subgroup of the Working Group on Antimicrobial Resistance on the Revision of Chapter 6.10.
    ‘RESPONSIBLE AND PRUDENT USE OF ANTIMICROBIAL AGENTS IN VETERINARY MEDICINE’    		Report_July_2022
    April 2022Report of the Working Group on Antimicrobial ResistanceReport_Apr_2022
    October 2021Report of the Working Group on Antimicrobial ResistanceReport_Oct_2021
    April 2021Report of the Working Group on Antimicrobial ResistanceReport_Apr_2021
    October 2020Report of the Working Group on Antimicrobial ResistanceReport_Oct_2020
    April 2020Report of the Working Group on Antimicrobial ResistanceReport_Apr_2020
    October 2019Report of the Working Group on Antimicrobial ResistanceReport_Oct_2019
    Technical Documents

    The World Organisation for Animal Health International Committee unanimously adopted the List of Antimicrobial Agents of Veterinary Importance at its 75th General Session in May 2007 and updated in January 2025.

    Related links