VERTIC facilitates a Workshop on Biosafety and Biosecurity in Mali
NIM Programme Director Sonia Drobysz and Legal Officer Cédric Apercé facilitated a Workshop on Biosafety and Biosecurity in Mali. The workshop was organised by the International Federation of Biosafety Associations (IFBA), the Malian Association for Biosafety and Biosecurity (MABB), and the Verification Research, Training and Information Centre (VERTIC) in Casablanca, Morocco, during 1-4 October 2018.
The event gathered representatives from various Malian ministries and agencies to discuss the implementation of Mali’s comprehensive biosafety and biosecurity strategy, including the drafting of a new biosafety and biosecurity legislation and regulations, the creation of a national agency for biorisk management in Mali and the drafting of a national biorisk management standard. A representative from Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) also shared with the participants the Canadian experience on developing its Human Pathogens Act, related regulations and the Canadian Biosafety Standard.
The workshop formed part of the project “National Biosafety & Biosecurity Implementation Measures in Mali” Phase II, funded by Global Affairs Canada. It built upon a series of activities conducted in Mali during the Phase I of the project, such as the establishment of a National Working Group, and the completion of a gap analysis of the Biosafety and Biosecurity framework in Mali by the latter with support from IFBA and PHAC.
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