Member States should in particular encourage continuous professional development for doctors of medicine, medical specialists, general practitioners, nurses responsible for general care, dental practitioners, specialised dental practitioners, veterinary surgeons, midwives, pharmacists and architects.

We deal with community groups in the field and a group specializing in veterinary medicine applied to stock farming called VETERIMED.

Experts in the area of animal testing and experimentation, laboratory animal science, natural sciences (especially biology, medicine, pharmacology, toxicology and ecotoxicology), animal welfare, ethics, laboratory animal breeders, technicians and veterinarians, animal behaviourists, and experts in legal and economic affairs related to these areas were asked for and provided input.

Whereas it is not necessary for the supply of feedingstuffs intended for particular nutritional purposes to be subject to presentation of a veterinary prescription since these products contain no medicinal substances within the meaning of Council Directive 65/65/EEC of 26 January 1965 on the approximation of provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action relating to proprietary medicinal products (4), but, to ensure the appropriate use of feedingstuffs with a very specific character, the user should be warned that it is desirable to seek a specialist's opinion before using them;

Whereas, however, for feedingstuffs designed to satisfy the nutritional requirements of animals with irreversibly impaired processes of assimilation, absorption or metabolism or which are in a pathological state requiring medical supervision, the possibility should be provided of laying down additional labelling rules which provide that a recommendation shall be given to the user to request the prior opinion of a veterinarian instead of the general recommendation to consult a specialist;

PROGRAMME CONTENTS A. Subprogramme "Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture": 1. Improvement of agricultural products - crop production: food and agro-industrial crops; crop genetics; crop protection; - proteins of animal origin: stock farming; animal genetics and reproduction; veterinary medicine; sea and inland fisheries, aquaculture; - forestry production in humid and arid areas. 2. Conservation and better use of the environment: - appraisal of resources; water resources and their use; soil management and protection, desertification and management of savannahs; underexploited genetic resources; wild flora and fauna; 3. Agricultural engineering and post-harvest technology: - agricultural engineering/mechanization; preservation o ...[+++]f products; processing of products; 4. Production systems: - multi-disciplinary approaches relating to plan products; inter-cropping; relationships between crop- growing and stock-farming; ecologically fragile environments; B. Subprogramme "Medicine, Health and Nutrition in Tropical and Subtropical Areas" 1. Medecine: - transmissible tropical diseases: parasitological; bacterial; viral; mycological; - non-transmissible tropical diseases: genetic disorders; acquired diseases; 2. Health: - health services research: operational research; plannng management and evaluation; - environmental health: water-related diseases; traditional medicine - tropical medicinal plants; 3. Nutrition: - nutritional deficiencies; impact of agricultural, food and social-economic strategies on nutritional status; - relationships between production and storage systems, food habits and health status; - bioavailability of nutrients and their toxicology///.