GO Blog

Day one completed and what a good day it was. We were honored to have the Director General for the OIE, Bernard Vallat, welcome the group.

OIE director of Trade, Sara Kahn spoke about OIE structure and standards; following that, there was a presentation on the World Animal Health Information System and Database. Alex Thiermann, International Organization Coordinator, U.S. Department of Agriculture/Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA/APHIS) and our on-the-ground person in Paris, reviewed OIE objectives. Thomas Pavie with the Ministry of Agriculture and Olivier Fanere with the National Veterinary Services made a presentation about the French Organization for Animal Health and Food Safety.

Following the presentations there were small group sessions and the participants worked on case studies.

The OIE building experienced a fire over the weekend prior to our arrival. Subsequently, the heating system was out. We were all chilled by the end of the day and welcomed the warmth of dinner at Les Messugues, a lovely little French restaurant located just around the corner from our hotel. The food was wonderful but then, there is, perhaps, no bad food in France.