Filipino Regulators Learn from International Experts in Regulating Animal Biotech Products

Filipino technical experts from various government regulatory agencies have come together for the first-ever Virtual Training-Workshop on Biotech Animals for Philippine Regulators, hosted via Zoom by ISAAA SEAsiaCenter in collaboration with the DOST-National Committee on Biosafety of the Philippines (DOST-NCBP), the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

More than 70  representatives from the Department of Agriculture, Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and the Department of Health participated in a three-day online workshop. International experts from Brazil, Argentina, Australia, and the United States were also invited to talk about their respective country's experiences in developing and regulating genetic modification (GM) and genome editing (GEd) of animals, as well as give an overview of their own country's animal biotech regulations.

During the workshop, the Filipino regulators reviewed the drafted biosafety guidelines for animal biotechnology and contributed to the improvement of its individual sections. They also assessed the capability of each regulatory agency if tasked to accommodate applications for the conduct of research and testing of products derived from animal biotechnology.

Ms. Ma. Lorelie Agbagala of the Department of Science and Technology encouraged her fellow regulators to make use of what was learned during the workshop as these will help finalize the draft framework. Dr. Claro Mingala of the Philippine Carabao Center and Head of the Animal Biotechnology Guideline Drafting Committee also said that future consultations will follow the completed workshop to have a good regulatory policy that the Philippine government can use for all the industries involved.

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