title: US veterinary support to standardization of food and water safety and animal care and use within NATO.
abstract: NATO requires all standardization agreements and Al-lied Medical Publications to be reviewed at least once every 3 years to ensure they reflect current technologies and national military policies and procedures. This is particularly applicable with regard to veterinary medi-cine and food and water safety where advances in scientific knowledge and practices may result in documents quickly becoming obsolete. Such is the case with the 8 standardization agreements for which the FWSVS has responsibility; all are currently undergoing major revisions. With each revision, national representatives, including US veterinary and preventive medicine personnel, must review the documents to ensure there are no significant issues which would prevent ratification and implementation. This improves standardization and enhances interoperability between NATO partners to minimize duplication. This is accomplished by leveraging other national military capabilities, while maintaining confidence that the food, water, and veterinary support provided to their Warriors, support personnel, and animals in the field is safe and high in quality. Adherence to such standards is a major factor in maintaining the operational readiness of all alliance armed forces.
authors.affiliation: Armed Forces Surveillance Center, Silver Spring, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Ronald L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Burke
authors.forename: Kelly A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Mann
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Richards
authors.forename: Timothy H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Stevenson
mesh_terms: D000820:Animal Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control; D000822:Animal Husbandry / Q000592:standards*; D000827:Animal Welfare / Q000592:standards; D000818:Animals; D002170:Canada; D060766:Drinking Water / Q000592:standards*; D005060:Europe; D059022:Food Safety / Q000379:methods*; D007391:International Cooperation; D014481:United States; D019155:Veterinary Drugs / Q000592:standards; D014731:Veterinary Service, Military / Q000592:standards*
chemical_list: D060766:Drinking Water; D019155:Veterinary Drugs