OIE Collaborating Centre for Good Beekeeping Management Practices and Biosecurity Measures in the Apiculture Sector

The 88th annual session of the World Assembly of National Delegates of the OIE (Office International des Epizooties), a week of webinar meetings, from Monday 24 to Friday 28 May, ended.

During the work, the new "Collaboration Centers" approved by the OIE Council were presented among the various candidates examined.

The OIE Collaboration Center for the European Region was recognized at the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Lazio e della Toscana (IZSLT), as:

“OIE Collaborating Centre for Good Beekeeping Management Practices and Biosecurity Measures in the Apiculture Sector.”

It is an important recognition for the IZSLT which in recent years has actively engaged in "GOOD BEEKEEPING MANAGEMENT", in research, training and collaborations with international partners.

The new center will be coordinated by Dr. Giovanni Format, veterinarian of the Institute and will have the role of guaranteeing and promoting on behalf of the OIE that the Member Countries carry out in the beekeeping sector the activities related to the application of good practices and biosecurity measures, for a cautious use of the drug in the apiary and to increase the quality of hive products.

The Center, in line with the Sixth OIE Strategic Plan, aims to:

Manage the risk to the health and well-being of bees, reducing the dangers to human health;
Increase the food safety of hive products;
Reduce the impact of bee diseases and their deaths on the beekeeping sector;
Define standards to ensure transparent and harmonized conditions for national and international trade in bees and their products;
Ensure transparency of transparent health information to OIE Member Countries, also thanks to the use of new communication technologies;
Reduce biological risks, be they biological, natural, accidental or intentional;
Carry out an analysis and optimization of human-animal socio-economic links;
Contribute to the economic development of mankind to protect the environment and biodiversity at the same time.

The OIE, World Organization for Animal Health, is the intergovernmental organization responsible for improving animal health around the world, based in Paris.

It is recognized as a reference organization by the WTO (World Trade Organization) and in 2018 it counted 182 Member Countries. The OIE maintains permanent relations with about 75 other international and regional organizations and has regional and sub-regional offices on every continent.

Among the applications examined by the Regional Commission corresponding to the Headquarters of the Centers, the following were approved by the OIE Council:

OIE Collaborating Centre for Good Beekeeping Management Practices and Biosecurity Measures in the Apiculture Sector – Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Regioni Lazio e Toscana, Rome, ITALY – risoluzione n. 29 dell’assemblea generale dei delegati OIE

OIE Collaborating Centre for Economics of Animal Health
University of Liverpool, Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Food Systems, Global Burden of Animal Diseases Programme, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, Liverpool, UNITED KINGDOM