Terrestrial Animal Health Code

The World Organisation for Animal Health's Terrestrial Animal Health Code (TAHC) implements improvement standards of worldwide animal health and welfare and public health from a veterinary point of view. It includes standards international trade in terrestrial biological specimens (such as mammals and birds) and their merchandise. National veterinary authorities use it to provide for early detection of pathogens and to prevent the transfer of same by international trade in animals and animal merchandise, while skirting "unjustified sanitary barriers to trade".

The standards in the TAHC have been adopted by the World Assembly of the OIE, the predecessor of the WOAH. The World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures "recognises the OIE as the international standard setting organisation for animal health and zoonotic diseases and specifically encourages the Members of the WTO to base their" legislation and regulations "on international standards, guidelines and recommendations, where they exist."

The TAHC had been through 28 editions as of August 2019.