Prague, 3 October 2000

Prof. Mo S a l m a n, M.D.

Chairman, International Society for

Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics

College of Veterinary Medicine and

Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University

Fort Collins, Colorado 80523-1676

U S A

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Dear Mo,

first I would like to congratulate you for being elected as the Chairman of the International Committee of our Society. I highly appreciate that the 9th Symposium was very well organized thanks to you and your collaborators. The same appreciation is valid for tremendous work to process record number of the contributions using Internet communication and to produce Proceedings not only in a form of traditional hard copies book but also on a computer compact disk. I was very pleased attending this symposium giving me the chance to be acquainted with many interesting new professional information.

May I ask you for sending me hard copies of all papers of the plenary sessions ? I would like to have full document including plenary papers as it has been usual in the Proceedings of the previous symposia. Plenary sessions papers represent the most important and inseparable i.e. integral components of the Proceedings. Furthermore, could you be so kind and send me also list (including addresses) of new International Committee members and resolution text. Do you plan to produce a new updated list of the Society members ?

I would like to remind you my letter of 20 March 1998 with attached copies of letters (dated 15 February 1996 and 20 March 1998) to Prof. Toma warning against rapidly worsening of animal population health in the world thanks professionally unacceptable benevolence of preventive measures against diseases spreading during international trade. All my suggestions are becoming more alarming than never before.

Now back to our discussion in Breckenridge:

Mo, please be aware that WTO SPS was prepared without any scientific analysis of diseases real situation, spreading by trade and their consequences. It represents "attentat" on preventive veterinary medicine which becomes clear when studying carefully full WTO SPS text and recent OIE documents (benevolent OIE Code, significantly reduced information for decision-making, etc.) after accepting WTO dictate to change its original policy from avoiding into admitting and even supporting animal diseases spreading. These documents are not the outcome of scientific research and analyses. There are based only upon the 51 % opinion (consensus) of administrative representatives. The OIE Code has not been scientifically justified to be transparent and defendable. Up to 1995 the OIE Code was very useful tool as recommended conditions orienting countries when deciding about the import of animals and their products. Final decision was depending upon agreement between importing and exporting countries. However, WTO SPS converted the OIE Code into obligatory norm dictating importing countries the limit of their protective conditions without respecting specific conditions and needs (every case is different) for animal and human population protection. WTO SPS has nothing to do with scientific justification, however, it dictates the importing countries must "scientifically justify" (7 times repeated) import refusal or when demanding better protection.

In order to "facilitate" international trade in animals and animal products, WTO and OIE started "camouflaging" the risk introducing new form of "risk assessment" trying to convince importing countries that the risk of diseases introduction is minimal or zero. Assessing risk was normal procedure for decades. The change consists in giving priority to mathematical models trying to replace other methods of biological, economical, public health, social, managerial and previous experience evaluation. Problem is always to have complete and reliable data from the exporting countries. Knowledge of occurrence of the majority of diseases (OIE is monitoring about 130 diseases) is incomplete or even not existent. Ad hoc reported clinically manifested cases of only several notifiable diseases (overwhelming majority are not notifiable) represent very small part of the problem. Without active investigations the knowledge about diseases territorial occurrence is very limited for defendable risk assessment.

Trade yes, but only with healthy animals and their innocuous products ! The main trade barriers are not preventive measures to protect healthy animals and disease free territories but the diseased animals and their products. Fair trade is when importing country authority responsible for health protection must has the right (being free) to decide under which conditions, considering also international recommendations, to purchase the given commodity.

We have to support only the policy of globalization of health and not of diseases which is being forced by WTO (SPS), profiting businessmen, bureaucrats and some mercenary veterinarians having not any responsibility for the protection of animal and human health in importing countries. Our independent scientific society cannot blindly support international policy and documents which are not scientifically justified and which are contributing to diseases spreading.

Preventive medicine = "Primum non nocere !".

With best regards

Vaclav K o u b a

P.B. 516, 17000 Praha 7

Czech Republic