New Memorandum of Understanding signed between ANSES and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Marc Mortureux, Director General of the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) and Li Jiayang, President of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), have signed a Memorandum of Understanding strengthening their cooperation in relation to research and risk assessment.
In view of the many areas in which they have common responsibilities, ANSES and the CAAS have already worked together in the past. An initial Memorandum between the two institutions was signed in December 2010, for a period of five years. Among other topics, this agreement focused on infectious bursal disease in poultry, Campylobacter and antimicrobial resistance.
The Memorandum of Understanding signed today aims to improve scientific and technical cooperation between the two institutions, in the context of their respective missions and their areas of activity, with due respect for their independence. It is especially intended to initiate joint activities for research and risk assessment, for the exchange of know-how and technical knowledge, in the areas of:
- food safety and zoonoses;
- animal health and welfare;
- plant health;
- antimicrobial resistance;
- monitoring veterinary drug residues;
- water quality;
- ecotoxicology.
A long-standing partnership with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
ANSES and the CAAS already have a long history of cooperation, because the ANSES Ploufragan-Plouzané Laboratory and CAAS's Harbin Veterinary Research Institute worked together from 1998 to 2001 on a project on infectious bursal disease in poultry.
In addition, the Laboratory for Animal Health worked with CAAS's Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute in 2008 on Toxoplasma and foot-and-mouth disease. This cooperation could now be extended to include tick-borne diseases.
The Plant Health Laboratory and CAAS's Institute for Plant Protection have also worked together for ad hoc exchanges of insects and particularly during a mission to collect insects in China in June and July 2011.
The Nancy Laboratory for Rabies and Wildlife has also participated in the training of CAAS staff concerning serology for rabies antibodies in domestic animals and/or in wildlife.
