International horse movement project in Asia and the Pacific: Kick-off meeting

WOAH and international horse movement

International horse sport and related movement has seen a steady growth and increasing economic importance globally and in Asia since before the COVID-19 pandemic, and is seeing increases once again.

WOAH has worked on facilitation of international horse movement with the equestrian sector since 2012, developing several concepts that have found international recognition and acceptance. A few of these include Equine Disease Free Zones (EDFZ), the “high health, high performance” horse (TAHC Chapter 4.17), specific and important equine diseases, the need to develop novel vaccines, and the need for harmonised import health certificates. African horse sickness also became a WOAH “official status” disease in 2015.

To build on these successes and revive attention to the subject, WOAH is starting a new project with an emphasis on the Asia and Pacific region.

Kick-off Meeting

A “kick-off” meeting introducing the new project supporting the international horse movement was organised on 18 January 2023. The meeting announced the “International Horse Movement” project, and provided an overview of relevant WOAH standards, and of the equine diseases situation (including AHS) in the region.

Event Resources

• Agenda
• Meeting recording (also see posted below)
• Introduction to the WOAH project on international horse movement in the Asia and Pacific region (Dr Susanne Münstermann,  Germany)
• WOAH standards and initiatives on international horse movement (Dr Mauro Meske, WOAH HQ)
• The previous workshops for international horse movements in 2014 and 2019 (Dr Susanne Münstermann, Germany)
• Horse disease situation in the region including AHS (Dr. Peng Li, WOAH RRAP & Dr. Karma Rinzin, WOAH SRR）
• Work plan for the WOAH project on international horse movement in Asia and Pacific region (Dr Susanne Münstermann, Germany)