International Regulators, Tech Developers Share Experiences on Animal Biotech

The 4th International Workshop on Regulatory Approaches for Animal Biotechnology continues to bring together regulators, researchers, and technology developers to discuss the experiences of their represented countries when it came to animal biotechnology. Session 4 of the online workshop gave them a chance to connect and meet in-depth as regional groups and their discussions were translated into reports that were shared with the whole group for a comprehensive view of the current status of global animal biotechnology.

The participants were divided into nine groups: two groups of regulators from Asia and Oceania, and from Europe and the Americas; six groups of government regulators from Africa and the Middle East, from Latin America, from Europe, from Asia and Oceania, from Francophone Africa, and from developed countries; and one group of young professionals. The nine groups met online separately for the first two days of the session and each were tasked to discuss five topics related to animal biotechnology: the challenges that their country is experiencing, regulatory cooperation with neighboring countries, the scope of the regulations that their country has put in place or is planning to implement, incentives for innovation, and forecasting the future of animal biotechnology in their respective countries.

On the third day of the session, all the participants and moderators met as a whole group and presented the key points of the discussions during the breakout sessions. The meeting became an avenue for knowledge sharing on how animal biotechnology is regulated per country. The exchange of ideas, opinions, and experiences enabled the participants to strengthen their capacity in handling animal biotechnology innovations and the products derived from it.

The workshop is collaboratively conducted by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications, Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, United States Department of Agriculture, and Virginia Tech. The organizers are planning to conduct more sessions. To inquire, contact mkarembu@isaaa.org.