Objective:
Establish a program which will include research and application components, to lay the foundation for rural development in the Autonomous Region of the Azores, Portugal. The 1995 Agreement on Cooperation and Defense between the US and Portugal, calls for US Government agencies to cooperate in such efforts. DOD has requested and funded USDA/ARS to serve as the lead civilian agency for this program under the Cooperative Initiatives Program.

Approach:
Technical cooperation will be focused in animal health and explore opportunities for research activities into new techologies to overcome real and potential constraints of the dairy industry. It will also involve absorption and adaptation by the Veterinary Services of the Azores of procedures and processes to implement a Dairy Health Monitoring System based on the experience accumulated in the US and some continuing education actions to increase awareneess of some diseases present in the Azorean's cattle and disease emergency preparedness. These initial activities will lead to further cooperation on implementation of quality assurance and certification programs for the dairy industry to the Azores. It will also lead to a common research agenda involving research institutions in the US and the Azores to develop new technologies and processes to be used on-farm and in the processing phases to increase efficiency and competitiveness of the US and Azoreans dairy products both domestically and internationally.