ANSES and Sciensano continue their cooperation
ANSES and its Belgian counterpart Sciensano have just renewed the long-standing agreements between them, first signed in 2009. The two agencies will continue their joint activities, mainly in the areas of diagnosis, research and reference relating to the pathogens responsible for epizootic diseases and zoonoses, and chemical agents likely to contaminate the food chain.
ANSES and Sciensano have a long-established relationship, with their first framework agreement signed back in June 2009. Its purpose was to strengthen their cooperation on animal and human diseases, whether food-related or otherwise, as well as in the area of food safety. They also signed a specific scientific cooperation agreement on foot-and-mouth disease and bluetongue. The two institutions are now extending these two agreements for a further five years, with a view to extending the existing cooperation. Provision has also been made for the agreements to be renewed automatically at the end of this period, for another five years.
Numerous cooperative activities
Sciensano is a Belgian public research institution working in the fields of human and animal public health. It was created following the merger between the Veterinary and Agrochemical Research Centre (CODA-CERVA) and the Scientific Institute of Public Health (ISP). Its areas of expertise are health and the environment, food consumption and safety, animal health, health and disease monitoring, and human public health. The two organisations are already working together in many areas, with joint participation in numerous European research projects on animal health, food safety, nutrition and toxicology. The Belgian institute is the scientific coordinator of the EJP One Health project, coordinated by ANSES. Both organisations are also members of MED-VET-NET, the European food zoonoses research network. In addition, since 2019, ANSES and Sciensano have jointly held the mandate of European Union Reference Laboratory for foot and mouth disease (FMD). New opportunities for cooperation are also emerging as part of "Horizon Europe", the next European Union framework programme for research and innovation.