Following last week’s announcement of South Africa’s national strategy to contain and control Foot and mouth disease (FMD), Minister of Agriculture Mr John Steenhuisen has formally appointed the FMD Industry Coordination Council to support its implementation.

This council has been established to ensure that industry plays an active, coordinated role in supporting the phased rollout of the FMD strategy, including vaccine distribution, traceability and disease control readiness.

The council will form one part of a triangular partnership essential to delivering on the FMD response:

• The Department of Agriculture – responsible for policy, regulatory support and resourcing.
• The Technical and Scientific Task Team – offering scientific, veterinary and epidemiological expertise.
• The FMD Industry Coordination Council – providing operational insight, strategic guidance and unified industry input.

To ensure a coordinated approach with industry, the minister issued a directive assigning the council the role of aligning industry efforts with national FMD control measures.

This includes establishing and operating an industry coordination mechanism to mobilise sector actions; consolidating industry situational information; coordinating industry communication; supporting implementation readiness for traceability and audit-ready record-keeping required for movement compliance and compartmentalised operations; and facilitating non-statutory logistics, including training, awareness and implementation monitoring