ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the health-based regulatory systems for global trade and travel. The International Health Regulations were first passed by the World Health Assembly in 1951 as the International Sanitary Regulations (ISR). As a United Nations specialized agency, World Health Organization (WHO) represents and serves virtually all of the worlds countries. In the mid-1800s, as transportation advances and industrialization accelerated global commerce, the major trading nations began a series of so-called International Sanitary Conferences. Strengthening disease prevention, surveillance and control on local and national levels remain core strategies for controlling international outbreaks, as do quarantines and other national measures for halting traffic. The treaty that governs international travel, the International Convention on Civil Aviation makes only passing reference to infectious disease outbreaks. This treaty, which regulates air travel by people and freight, begins by explicitly reinforcing the sovereignty of states as a central principle in the agreement.
