The United States, Australia and New
Zealand have signed an agreement to recognize geographic zoning in the event of
an outbreak of a foreign animal disease, such as foot-and-mouth disease, Bovine
Spongiform Encephalopathy, highly-pathogenic strains of avian influenza or
African Swine Fever.
Canada has been lobbying for years to
win acceptance for an East-West split, with West Hawk Lake, Manitoba, near the
border with Northwestern Ontario, as the dividing point.
The deal means that in the event of an outbreak, bans on trade would apply to only the half of Canada where the outbreak occurred. It's also possible that smaller geographic zones could be accepted, such as Newfoundland.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency
said the deal was signed during a meeting of the World Organization for Animal
Health.
Canada also signed two other agreements
at the conference. One is to share Foot-And-Mouth Disease vaccine in the event
of an outbreak. Mexico is an additional partner in this deal.
The third deal is an agreement to share
resources in the event of an outbreak of a foreign animal disease. Those
signing this deal are Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom
and United States.
