FAO Supports Veterinary Services in Tunisia to Develop an Innovative Strategy for the Coming Decade (2018-2030)

Tunis, 18 January, 2019: A workshop was held today to validate the national strategy of veterinary services in Tunisia. The strategy is the culmination of a process based on rigorous analysis and a diagnosis of the current state of the sector. Its design, initiated by the General Directorate of Veterinary Services (DGSV) and formulated in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), was built around  the Results-Based Management method (RBM) and the international standards advocated by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), as well as the One-Health initiative.

In his speech opening the workshop, Mr. Boubaker Karray, Undersecretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, Hydraulic Resources and Fisheries, highlighted the strengths of this strategy as a tool for anticipating the stakes and challenges of the livestock sector. He stated that the successful implementation of this strategy depends on the sense of ownership of its vision by all those who contributed to its development. He also noted that even a powerful strategy should be continuously improved, and requires accountability.

In 2017, the sub-regional office of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in North Africa supported the design of the first draft of this strategy with the DGSV. This promoted strengthening and enhancing current achievements while providing a clear vision adapted to the local, regional and international contexts. Speaking on behalf of FAO, Mr. Mohamed Amrani, the key expert on agricultural policies in North Africa, stressed that this strategy represents a roadmap for the development of the veterinary sector and supports putting it into action.

In a complex world full of significant challenges - climate change, the emergence of new diseases, cross-border diseases, and globalization - the Director General of the DGSV stressed the importance of having more efficient veterinary services to ensure food safety in Tunisia and expressed confidence in the strategy, which adopted a participatory approach with wide consultation of all stakeholders, including the DGSV administration, the ministry, professional organizations and civil society.

As the main actor in the control and monitoring of diseases and the products of animal origin, the DGSV plays a key role in improving the added-value of livestock-based products and by-products. The DGSV is engaged in various strategies and frameworks governing this sector, such as the global strategy on transboundary animal diseases, the control of antimicrobial resistance, and food safety, for which the DGSV works in accordance with the guidelines of the OIE, the FAO, and the Codex Alimentarius, particularly in respect to regulatory regimes and laboratories.