Asian countries have agreed to set up a regional animal survey system that would make it easier to tackle diseases such as bird flu and SARS, which cross from animals to humans.
The decision was taken at a meeting of ministers and officials in the Thai capital, Bangkok, to discuss the region's bird flu crisis.
The disease has been confirmed in ten countries from Japan to Pakistan and has killed eight people.
The meeting was addressed by Thailand's Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, whose government has been accused of trying to cover up the original outbreak. He admitted that mistakes and human errors had been made.
Meanwhile, France has asked the European Commission to ban the import of live birds from Asian countries affected by the bird flu outbreak.
A ban would cover all live birds, including pets, arriving with passengers travelling from affected countries.
The EU last week banned all poultry imports from Thailand.
