DUBAI, (Pakistan Point News - 04th Sep, 2018) The National Biosecurity Committee held its second meeting for 2018 to review the latest updates of the National Biosecurity Strategy Action Plan.
The committee members explored the achieved goals of the strategy and discussed the Laboratory Biosecurity Manual, the second issue of the Biological Waste Management Handbook, and the Abu Dhabi Biosecurity Strategy.
The members also discussed the early biosecurity notification system, which aims to provide reports on disease outbreaks, agricultural pests control and food safety alerts in the country. They also viewed the electronic communication links being established among stakeholders, which represents an important stage in the implementation of the objectives of the National Biosecurity Strategy.
Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al-Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, who chaired the meeting, emphasised that this meeting is a key step in the national committee’s efforts to implement the National Biosecurity Strategy, adopted by the UAE Cabinet in 2013 under the theme, "Integrated Biosecurity," with a focus on building financial and human capacities.
"The National Biosecurity Committee has devised the strategy to enhance biosecurity through issuing and updating legislation and laws, building capabilities for detecting biological hazards and dealing with incidents and biological threats that will adversely affect the UAE community as well as the political, economic and tourism sectors," Dr. Al Zeyoudi said.
He added that the strategy focusses on collaboration and coordination among all relevant entities across every stage in addressing biological hazards. In addition, it focusses on the importance of attracting and qualifying the national workforce and ensuring effective community engagement, to achieve the objectives of the UAE Vision 2021 in building integrated biosecurity mechanisms that enhance the UAE’s overall safety and security.
