Development of an Analytical Tool to Assess Biosecurity Legislation

Abstract

Globalization of trade in agricultural products brings opportunities and risks. On the one hand, it generates wealth in countries exporting their produce to foreign markets and brings that produce to the tables of consumers in faraway lands. On the other hand, it opens new pathways for pests and diseases that can damage natural resources with accompanying economic and environmental consequences. In order to capture those opportunities and manage those risks, there is an increasing recognition of the need to integrate and improve coordination of regulatory activities designed to protect human, animal and plant life and health and the environment.

Interest in Biosecurity comes in response to these needs. It attempts to draw together the policy and regulatory frameworks for risk assessment and risk management across the sectors of food safety, animal life and health (including fisheries) and plant life and health. Biosecurity aims to manage biological risks in these three sectors while protecting the environment and contributing to its sustainable use. In essence, Biosecurity balances enthusiasm for international trade with the need to protect against risks. Transparent and efficient controls in these sectors need not create unnecessary barriers to international trade; rather they facilitate it.

Biosecurity is an interdisciplinary activity that covers a wide range of subjects and approaches. As Biosecurity works towards the integration of animal health, plant health and food safety in order to streamline risk assessment and risk management practices, the division of responsibilities among national agricultural regulatory authorities comes under scrutiny. Controls and authorities for Biosecurity matters tend to be scattered over a variety of ministries, including the ministries of agriculture, health, environment and trade and industry. The objective of Biosecurity is to draw together relevant regulatory authorities or to create coordinating mechanisms to streamline approaches to managing biological risks. To implement the necessary coordination, countries must look closely at their national legal frameworks. This will aid in implementing the most efficient institutional set-up while also protecting rights and establishing responsibilities in a way that is conducive to the active participation of public authorities, the private sector and consumers.

To implement a Biosecurity approach, governments should first identify and analyse the existing constellation of legal provisions covering the subject areas of Biosecurity. At times this may not be easy as Biosecurity is often regulated in a plethora of parliamentary-level and subsidiary pieces of legislation of different natures, scopes and objects. The present study elaborates an orderly methodology to facilitate the review and assessment of national legal frameworks for Biosecurity. The methodology arises from work carried out in six pilot countries – Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Uganda and Viet Nam – by national legal experts actively testing and refining the analytical tool.

The methodology set out in this study should enable a comprehensive evaluation of national laws and regulations covering the main subject areas of Biosecurity, comparing national rules with international requirements and providing an overall evaluation of the national regulatory framework vis-à-vis the objectives of Biosecurity. It is hoped that the methodology will be a useful tool for countries wishing to assess and develop updated legislation to achieve a Biosecurity approach.