Progress and Significant Milestones

  • The 32nd ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. unanimously agreed to declare their support and commitment to advancing the ASEAN cooperation on animal health and zoonoses in the AMAF Statement on “ASEAN Cooperation on Animal Health and Zoonoses: Avian Influenza and Beyond,”
  • The 33rd AMAF Meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, endorsed the Comprehensive Proposal for the Establishment of the Regional Coordination Mechanism on Animal Health and Zoonoses (RCM), hereafter named the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Animal Health and Zoonoses (ACCAHZ).
  • The 37th AMAF Meeting held in Manila, the Philippines, in September 2015, endorsed the Agreement for the Establishment of ACCAHZ and agreed that the Establishment Agreement would be signed through the ad-referendum mechanism.
  • The 19th ASEAN Sectoral Working Group on Livestock (ASWGL) established the ACCAHZ Preparatory Committee (ACCAHZ PrepCom) to establish ACCAHZ. It also endorsed the establishment of the ASEAN Regional Support Unit (RSU) based in the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (RAP) to support the work of ACCAHZ PrepCom for the implementation of the planned establishment of ACCAHZ and ensure its operationalisation.
  • The complete signing of the Agreement on the Establishment of the ASEAN Coordinating Center for Animal Health and Zoonoses (ACCAHZ) was through an ad-referendum arrangement, and it was completed at the 38th AMAF Meeting in Singapore.
  • The Special Meeting of the ASWGL on Streamlining Process, 2-3 November 2016, Siem Reap, Cambodia, discussed the structure of ASWGL once ACCAHZ is established. The meeting agreed to maintain the seven (7) ASWGL sub-working groups, namely ASEAN National Focal Point for Veterinary Product (ANFPVP), ASEAN Veterinary Epidemiology Group (AVEG), ASEAN Laboratory Directors’ Forum (ALDF), ASEAN Communication Group on Livestock (ACGL), Avian Influenza Group of ASEAN (AIGA), and Expert Working Group on Good Animal Husbandry Practices (EWG-GAHP), during the interim period of ACCAHZ establishment. Once ACCAHZ is operational, it will be suggested to the ACCAHZ Governing Board that the four (4) sub-working groups, AVEG, ALDF, ACGL, and AIGA, be coordinated by ACCAHZ.
  • The 10 ASEAN Member States have finalised their internal ratification process and have deposited their Instrument of Ratification (IR) to the ASEAN Secretariat, which resulted in the Agreement entering into force on the 8th of September 2021.
  • As the first ACCAHZ host country, Malaysia has provided an office for ACCAHZ, including its furniture, located in Veterinary Public Health Laboratory in Sepang, Malaysia.
  • The 20th ACCAHZ PrepCom Meeting was conducted as the final Preparatory Committee meeting. The meeting was conducted on 27 – 28 March 2023 in Bangkok, Thailand. The Meeting was organised by the Government of Thailand and with the support by the Strengthening Mechanism in Animal-health for a Resilient ASEAN (SMART-ASEAN) project through the LOA with the funding support of the Australian Government through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). The Meeting discussed and agreed to submit the following documents to the ACCAHZ GB Meeting:
  • ACCAHZ Executive Director TOR
    • ACCAHZ 5-years strategic plan
    • ACCAHZ launching plan
    • ACCAHZ ROPs on Governing Board, Financial Management, Business Arrangement/Office, Human Resources Management, Physical Assets, Services and Equipment, Suspension, and Withdrawal.
    • ACCAHZ resource mobilisation.
  • The 1st ACCAHZ Governing Board Meeting was conducted on 12 – 13 December 2023 in Sepang, Malaysia. The meeting welcomed FAO as an Associate Member of the ACCAHZ GB according to the Establishment Agreement of the ACCAHZ, to provide input and support for the ACCAHZ GB as needed, including attending and participating in future GB meetings.
  • The 1st ACCAHZ GB Meeting discussed and agreed on the following:
  • To have an Interim ACCAHZ Coordinating Officer (IACO) to conduct day-to-day ACCAHZ Office activities, pending the recruitment and appointment of the ACCAHZ Executive Director (ED), and agreed with the terms of reference for the IACO developed with assistance from FAO.
  • The Meeting welcomed the final Host Country Agreement (HCA) that was developed by Malaysia. The HCA will be further submitted to SOM-AMAF and AMAF. ACCAHZ GB agreed that the HCA will be signed between Malaysia and the ACCAHZ GB Chair.
  • the terms of reference for the ACCAHZ Executive Director;
  • the transition plan for the ASEAN Veterinary Epidemiology Group (AVEG), ASEAN Laboratory Directors’ Forum (ALDF), Avian Influenza Group for ASEAN (AIGA), and the ASEAN Communication Group on Livestock (ACGL) to ACCAHZ;
  • the ACCAHZ resources mobilization;
  • the ACCAHZ 5-year Strategic Plan;
  • to launch ACCAHZ in April/May 2024 back-to-back with the Special ACCAHZ Governing Board Meeting and Networking Sessions in the ACCAHZ office. The ACCAHZ fund will be utilized to support the events, including travel for ASEAN Member States (AMS).
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