39. The Representative of OIE presented the activities of OIE, in addition to the information presented under Agenda Item 5 on antimicrobial resistance, as follows:
40. With regard to international harmonization, VICH (Veterinary International Cooperation on Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Registration of Veterinary Medicinal Products) has made significant progress during the last 18 months. Three meetings of its Steering Committee were held and the first VICH public conference was organized in Brussels in November 1999. There is a common agreement that the first phase of launching VICH is now completed and the number of technical guidelines already adopted demonstrates the efficiency of VICH. Therefore, as planned from the beginning, it has been decided that the OIE chairmanship could be changed into a rotating chairmanship between the members of VICH, OIE remaining an associate member of the Steering Committee.
41. In addition to its involvement in VICH, OIE has supported harmonization activities in Latin American and in African countries.
42. OIE organized in Hanoi in April 1999 the 9th International Technical Consultation on Veterinary Medicinal Products (ITCVMP) in cooperation with the Vietnamese authorities. The topics addressed during this Conference, which was attended by more than 100 participants, were national veterinary pharmaceutical legislation, import and distribution of veterinary drugs, prudent use of them and public health protection (residues and resistance to antimicrobial and antiparasitic products).
43. The Fourth African Training Seminar organized in Dakar, Senegal, in 1999, covered similar topics and recommended to hold the 10th ITCVMP in Bamako, Mali, at the end of 2000.
44. OIE is also involved, through its Collaborating Centre for Veterinary Drugs (ANMV-AFSSA, France), in a continuing programme of training and dissemination of regulatory and technical information on veterinary drugs. Information can also be found on the website of the OIE Collaborating Centre (www.anmv.afssa.fr/oiecc).
