Veterinary Legislation Support

The absence of quality veterinary legislation has been a frequent finding in PVS Pathway Evaluation missions and the Veterinary Legislation Support Programme (VLSP) was developed to provide countries with the opportunity to have their legislation in the veterinary domain systematically reviewed by VLSP experts, identify gaps and weakness in that legislation, to strengthen their capacity in legal drafting and develop new legislation.

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PVS Pathway Veterinary Legislation Support Programme (VLSP)

To effectively control transboundary zoonotic and animal diseases, ensure food safety, control antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and mitigate the risk of bioterrorism, Veterinary Services must be able to act quickly and decisively through the power of clearly written and enforceable legislation. The lack of such legislation can indeed be a matter of life or death for both animals and humans.

Over 60 Member Countries have participated in the VLSP to date (2018) and notable benefits have been achieved.

The VLSP consists of two stages:

  • the initial stage is the Veterinary Legislation Identification Mission, aimed at obtaining a detailed picture of the current state of veterinary legislation in a country. And, if the experts of this mission find that the country has sufficient political will and the human and financial resources to successfully undertake it:
  • the second stage is the Veterinary Legislation Agreement aimed at supporting the country in correcting its deficiencies in veterinary legislation.

Veterinary Legislation Identification Missions can also include the analysis of veterinary legislation related to specific themes of particular interest to WOAH (founded as OIE), its partners and Member Countries.

The first of these has been biological threat reduction. With resource partner support, the WOAH has been able to provide additional training to VLSP experts on the global legal framework for biological threat reduction and to carry out VLSP missions with an added focus on legislation related to biological threat reduction in the veterinary domain.

Through these missions, the WOAH has been able to increase awareness about the role of Veterinary Services in the mitigation of biological threats, the need for strengthening veterinary legislation to ensure that the power to act in the face of intentional introduction of biological agents is clear, and that the need for cooperation with other competent authorities is recognised and addressed through collaborative arrangements that are in place before incidents occur.

The second of these specific themes is antimicrobial resistance (AMR), a global concern of the tripartite partners WOAH, FAO and WHO. Pilot missions are currently being organised to review  national legislation relevant for AMR in the context of the VLSP Veterinary Legislation Identification Mission. The assessment tools are being developed collaboratively between WOAH and FAO.  

More details on the VLSP are available on the link below:

VLSP overviewVLSP BTR Brochure
Overview of VLSP (flyer)
Biological Threats and Veterinary Legislation (Brochure)

Status of Veterinary Legislation Identification Missions

Veterinary Legislation Identification Mission Reports

Contacts : Dr David Sherman ([email protected])  / Ms. Camille Loi  ([email protected])