Previous General Assemblies

June 2021

EASVO (Virtual) General Assembly

Virtual Meeting, GoToMeeting

On 10th June 2021, the EASVO General Assembly took place virtually by "GoToMeeting"

Sadly we were, again unable to meet, in person, in London for the GA this year so, instead, we held a busy and valuable “virtual meeting” ably supported by Wiebke from the FVE team. We agreed to support all of the items for vote on the FVE General Assembly Agenda and enjoyed interesting discussions on several issues.

Our main discussions were on Animal Welfare and we were grateful to be joined by Sean Wensley, chair of the FVE AWWG, to discuss the FVE papers for vote, on sustainable husbandry systems for laying hens and best practice for the euthanasia of horses, and the FVE AW strategy that is out for consultation. During this discussion we agreed to recommend that FVE and the AWWG consider how they define/use the terminology around “animal mental health”/psychological wellbeing of animals and also consider how to present documents for different audiences as they develop the AW strategy. We also discussed the work of the ad hoc FVE working group on welfare during long distance transport following our recommendation to the FVE GA on this at the last meeting.

From Germany, Conny, spoke about the One Health challenges posed by the rise in the illegal dog trade/puppy smuggling and the internet sales of pets and, recognising that work is already underway, we call on the FVE to continue to show leadership in this area. We will also consider proposing a joint session with UEVP (practitioners) to discuss these challenges at a future GA.

And finally, we reflected on the integration of an EASVO strategy with the developing work plan for the FVE strategy. We agreed that a small group of EASVO members, led by Romano, will develop a draft strategy for further discussion/adoption at the November GA.

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November 2020

EASVO (Virtual) General Assembly

Virtual Meeting, GoToMeeting

On 5th November 2020, the EASVO General Assembly took place virtually by "GoToMeeting"

There was great sadness that we were unable to meet, in person, in Prague for the GA but were able to conduct an interesting and valuable “virtual meeting”, ably supported by Sarah from the FVE team. We agreed on the EASVO voting position for papers on the FVE General Assembly Agenda and, in particular, discussed the paper on Telemedicine in detail, supported by Rens (FVE President), but were unable to support the paper as it is currently drafted because of the implications for EASVO members and because we would seek more consideration of the role of new technologies in support of surveillance, official controls, audit/assurance and certification.

We were, again, pleased to welcome Sean (AWWG chair) to present on the work of the group and to highlight the consultation papers that are currently active on sustainable husbandry systems for laying hens and best practice for the euthanasia of horses. We also heard an update from Germany on the long-distance transport of livestock and recommended that the AWWG continue to engage with the COM in support of OVs carrying out the certification for this work.

Another key discussion point was the impact of Covid-19 on our members and we heard from Denmark on the recent cases in farmed mink and the challenges faced by OVs in delivering the disease response.

We also voted in favour of the new FVE 2020-25 strategy and will pick up work on an integrated EASVO strategy in 2021.

And finally, we were grateful to the FVE board and officials for agreeing the new Section Fee structure which is so important for our financial sustainability.

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June 2020

EASVO (Virtual) General Assembly

Virtual Meeting, GoToMeeting

On 4th June 2020, the EASVO General Assembly took place virtually by "GoToMeeting"

There was great sadness that we were unable to meet, in person, in London for the GA this year but conducted an interesting and valuable “virtual meeting” supported by the FVE team. There were no items for vote on the FVE General Assembly Agenda so we focussed on the feedback from our members.

A key discussion point was the impact of Covid-19 on our members and we reflected that this was a “One Health” challenge and that we are really proud of the way that the European Veterinary profession has responded and maintained Official Controls, keeping the food chain moving to maintain the supply of safe food and protect Animal Welfare. We identified some themes to feedback to the FVE GA on vets supporting the human health response; the impact on the wellbeing of everyone in the food chain; the use of emergency legislation with the main message that the meat food chain has been prioritised; supporting the economy; and some of the challenges around resources – especially PPE/RPE.

We also reflected on the proposed FVE strategy and are keen to re-engage with the process. We questioned whether a more fundamental review was required in light of the Covid-19 impacts and lessons learned but agreed that the themes identified are relevant to the whole profession and EASVO is ready to engage, support specific initiatives and, potentially work with the FVE team on developing a parallel EASVO strategy.

And finally, we were grateful to the FVE board and officials for reviewing the Section Fee structure which is so important for our financial sustainability.

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November 2019

EASVO General Assembly

Brussels, Belgium

On 7th November 2019 the EASVO General Assembly took place in Brussels at the International Auditorium.

We had another busy and engaging agenda, where we received our regular updates on the work of the Food Safety Working Group, including progress on OCR implementation and the development of a paper on the circular economy, the AHL task force and the implementation of the Veterinary Medicines Regulation. We also discussed our membership fees and, although our costs are increasing, we were able to maintain our fees for 2020 but will need to keep this under review.
We were grateful that Sean Wensley (chair of the AWWG) joined us to provide an update on the work of the new group and we had a detailed discussed on the position paper on preventing pig tail biting and reducing tail docking, which we agreed to support in the FVE GA vote.
As is now the tradition, EASVO members gave interesting presentations on an audit of AW in slaughterhouses in Switzerland, the potential to use the EU Animal Health tool, Discontools, as an information resource for government vets, an update on the situation in Germany for long distance transport of animals and, finally, an update on the progress of the VetCEE sub-committee developing the Dossier of Competence for Veterinary Public Health.
We were pleased to join UEVP (practitioners) in a joint session on the current implementation of the Zoos Directive and the implications for conservation and animal health - “One Health, One Welfare, One Plan”
Finally we were delighted to see EASVO’s new website and we elected our new board for 2019-2021 - President – Jane Clark (UK); Treasurer – Conny Rossi-Broy (DE); General Secretary – Ole-Herman Tronerud (NO); Vice President – Mark McCarthy (IE); and Senior Vice President – Romano Zilli (IT) and thanked Fabien and Pavel, the outgoing VPs, for their contributions.

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