Preventing the spread of disease through international trade is one of the primary objectives of the Office International des Epizooties (OIE), the World Organisation for Animal Health. This is accomplished by establishing international standards that facilitate trade while minimising the risk of introducing diseases such as bluetongue (BT). The OIE standards for BT are contained in the Terrestrial animal health code (Code) and the Manual of diagnostic tests and vaccines for terrestrial animals (Manual). These standards include procedures for prompt reporting of BT outbreaks; requirements that should be met for a country or zone to be defined as free of bluetongue virus (BTV); recommendations for the safe importation of live animals, semen and embryos into a BTV-free country or zone; and the general provisions that countries should meet to reduce the risk of spread of BTV through trade. The Manual describes in detail the various tests for the diagnosis of BT. It provides a list of prescribed tests; these are the tests that are required by the Code for the testing of animals in connection with international trade. There are 24 serotypes of BTV and infected countries have the right to restrict imports from countries that have different types of BTV. However, this should only be done if a surveillance and monitoring programme has confirmed that the other types are not present. Zoning for an arbovirus is difficult to apply but zoning for vectors is practicable. Some countries have demonstrated that there is no evidence of infection in their country or parts of their country even though there has been unrestricted animal movement between endemic zones and free zones. This freedom is due to the absence of vectors in the free zone. Based on this observation, free countries and zones can be established if an appropriate surveillance and monitoring programme is in place to define their boundaries. Consequently, there have been extensive changes in the Code to allow the establishment of BTV-free countries and zones and seasonally free countries and zones to provide the basis for safe trade, while minimising the risk of the introduction of BTV.