A framework which assists countries in controlling foot-and-mouth disease by bridging the gap between being “FMD-endemic” and achieving official recognition of FMD freedom; The approach developed by an FAO team for classifying country progress in FMD risk management. In this approach there is criteria for describing the FMD risk management position of countries that are not-free of FMD. It may lead to a tool that can be applied to measure (and communicate) country progress within regional roadmaps, and aims at starting countries along a pathway of activities from measuring risk to risk management, covering the stages before they could apply for recognition of disease freedom.