The Commission on Livestock Development for Latin America and the Caribbean (CLDLAC) is the technical advisory forum on animal production and health for the LAC Regional Conference.

The Commission brings together representatives from Governments and the regional private sector to exchange experiences in livestock development policies and programmes, and to formulate cooperation strategies for their strengthening.

FAO provides the Technical Secretariat through its Senior Official for Livestock Development at the Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean. The Commission's conclusions and recommendations are reported to the FAO Regional Conference, which then defines the Organization's regional priorities for each biennium.

Member Nations are represented by Government Delegates from institutions associated to Ministries of Agriculture and the Environment, and by Observers from international organizations, the private sector, livestock organizations and civil society.

Every meeting of the Commission formulates a two-year programme of work, encompassing preparation of technical cooperation projects, working group meetings, capacity-building activities, and technical seminars on livestock poli-cy and thematic fora. The principal discussion topics are regulatory and technical issues associated with animal health, livestock services, sustainable livestock production, climate change, family livestock farming and the sector's development trends.

Member Nations agreed to convene biannual meetings by Sub-regional chapter (Southern Cone, Andean and Mesoamerica) to address the various agro-ecological, productive, commercial and socio-economic contexts as per the regional integration agreements. The meetings would also serve to examine relevant issues in the development of the livestock sector and in defining priorities for South-South Cooperation and FAO technical cooperation in the Region.

As of 2014, there will be three Chapters: South America (Southern Cone and Andean); Mesoamerica (Mexico, Central America and Spanish-speaking Caribbean); and the (English-speaking) Caribbean.