REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON RESEARCH

Regarding EuFMD Research Projects; he indicated the STC were very much in favor of a fund to enable short pieces of applied research to be conducted in a timely manner to help implement EuFMD policies on FMD control. The level of funding proposed (200,000 US$/year) seems to be appropriate. The studies should continue to be commissioned by the EuFMD secretariat but the commissioning process needs to be more transparent and guidance is needed for those asked to comment on the suitability of proposals. The commissioning process should not include a fully open call for proposals as this would be too cumbersome to manage. The secretariat should propose themes that would be priorities for studies, with reference to the research priorities identified by the special committee. Proposals should not overlap with other funded studies and could be grouped for review every three months. The special committee could also be asked to help review proposals for suitability and to monitor the success of the projects. A document setting out the modus operandi of the future research programme should be drawn up by the Secretariat (KS/ER) for supply to the STC.

The Chairman thanked the STC for their valuable report and commended the use of the Table indicating their recommendations relating to the Pillars of the programme. He took note of their points on the role of the STC and indicated these would be further discussed in Item 7.

Conclusions

1. The Open Sessions in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain had been a major success and the greater involvement of FMD risk managers in the Session, and the focus on issues affecting control policy, should continue to be a focus of future Sessions. 2. The Session took note of the findings in the Report and endorsed the conclusions. The Secretariat were asked to ensure the conclusions of the STC report would be taken up in the development of the work plans to be proposed in April at the 40th Session, including the proposal to establish a Research Fund, with pre-agreed procedures.

Report of the Special Committee on Research

This was provided by Dr Aldo Dekker, Chairman of the Special Committee (Appendix 7), who summarised the Closed Session of the Special Committee held in Jerez de la Frontera in October. As well as reviewing the priorities for future research, they considered their activities in the “reviewing” and “doing” categories, with the second largely as a result of their own salaried work programmes rather than those specifically commissioned for the Committee. The current and possibly future contributions include:

Reviewing:

- Biosecurity standards - Laboratory techniques for diagnosis and surveillance - Models for optimisation of contingency plans - Reports of EuFMD funded research - Priorities for FMD research - Surveillance results from regions bordering EuFMD territory - FMD risks from various virus pools.