Biosafety Information Centre

The challenge for countries, especially developing countries and countries with economies in transition, is the formulation of national policies and regulatory frameworks to ensure biosafety. The holistic approach to biosafety encompasses scientific, ecological, health, social, economic, cultural and ethical dimensions in the context of the precautionary principle. It also requires a long term perspective in assessing technology and its products.
A comprehensive biosafety policy will need to be accompanied by and integrated with policies in other related fields such as agriculture, science and technology, industrial development, health, biodiversity and environmental protection. An important element would be options for non-gene technology approaches to achieving a stated objective such as increased agricultural productivity, pest and disease management or environmental remediation. For developing countries with limited resources and/or alternative knowledge and practices in farming and health systems, this approach can be both cost-effective and ensures the further strengthening of national capacities and sovereignty over food, nutrition and health. A regulatory framework includes a national law, subsidiary regulations, administrative measures and implementation/enforcement mechanisms. Underlying this is the generation and flow of information and knowledge on biosafety that can be part of the public domain to ensure public participation and ever-deepening understanding and implementation of biosafety.
This section provides some information on the experiences of countries and regions.