FAO together with the International Atomic Energy Acency runs its own agriculture and biotechnology research laboratories - an excellent in-house example, how science is used to foster evidence-based policy development.
Since 1964, FAO and IAEA have collaboratively pursued their mandates through Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture. The Joint FAO/IAEA Centre leads the progression and practical application of nuclear and biotechniques in the realm of food and agriculture within FAO and IAEA Member States. The overarching objective is to significantly contribute to global food security and foster sustainable agricultural development on a worldwide scale.
The Joint Centre advances and supports the safe and appropriate use by FAO and IAEA Member States of nuclear and related technologies in food and agriculture, aiming to contribute to global food security and sustainable agricultural development worldwide. It does so through adaptive research and development at its own laboratories in Seibersdorf as well as through annual support and coordination of more than 25 coordinated research projects involving some 400 research institutions and experimental stations; capacity-building and technology transfer to over 200 national and regional technical cooperation projects; and technical and policy advice to policymakers.
Functioning as a key hub for scientific research and development on nuclear and related techniques in food and agriculture, the Joint FAO/IAEA Centre focuses on five key thematic areas: Animal Production and Health, Food Safety and Control, Insect Pest Control, Plant Breeding and Genetics and Soil and Water Management and Crop Nutrition.
Research activities are conducted within the Joint FAO/IAEA Centre's state-of-the-art Agriculture and Biotechnology laboratories, located in Seibersdorf, Austria. This unique setting provides an optimal environment for innovative scientific endeavours, fostering advancements that resonate globally.
A very concrete example, where science meets policy is our work on Codex Alimentarius Commission and the International Plant Protection Convention. Through the Joint FAO/IAEA Centre the two Organizations have worked together on many of the Radiation Safety Standards of the IAEA as well as the international standards of the Codex Alimentarius Commission and the International Plant Protection Convention - standards that cover controls on agrifood systems, food safety, food quality and phytosanitary measures against plant pests.
Ms. Anne Bogdanski