At the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH, founded as OIE), through a continuous process based on science and consensus, internationally renewed experts and Members collaborate to develop International Standards. New and revised texts are presented every year to the governing body of the Organisation—the World Assembly of 182 Delegates—for their consideration, discussion, and eventually, adoption. This occurs at the annual WOAH General Session, and after its decision, the new texts enter into force.

The Terrestrial Animal Health Code (Terrestrial Code) was first adopted in 1968, following the agreement of Members to work towards a harmonised approach to protecting against the global spread of animal diseases. Since then, the Terrestrial Code has regularly been updated and several editions have been published. The most recent edition is the 30th edition, published this year. This edition is publicly available and should be the sole reference for current use. Nonetheless, for specific purposes, access to previous editions is often required.

Initially, updates to the Terrestrial Code were published separately, and a completely new edition was published only after several years. Since 1999, a new edition of the Terrestrial Code has been published annually after each General Session.

The new access point provides access to all previous editions of the Terrestrial Code, including the relevant amendments introduced over time, and aims at promoting a better understanding of the process for WOAH Standards’ adoption and their evolution. It has been designed to facilitate access to the previously existing information by linking documents in an innovative and structured way to show the evolution of the Terrestrial Code over time.

The access point is available directly from WOAH’s webpage: https://www.woah.org/en/what-we-do/standards/codes-and-manuals/previous-editions-of-the-terrestrial-code/, and has been built using resources from its Documentary Portal (http://doc.woah.org). All content is fully available to the public.

Access the previous issues of the Terrestrial Code

Contact: WOAH Standards Department or WOAH Documentation Cell