The Ministry of Environment and Water successfully organized two workshops held on the sidelines of the second edition of the UAE Biosecurity Conference, which ran from April 28 to April 29, 2015 at the Park Hyatt, Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi. The conference, which was held under the slogan, ‘Integrated Biosecurity,’ provided a scientific platform to exchange knowledge about biosecurity and review the emerging issues and challenges in this area.

The first workshop was organized in collaboration with the United States Environmental Protection Agency and focused on the discussion of procedures covering the implementation of Biosafety Level 3 in Laboratories. Meanwhile, the second workshop discussed biosecurity and safety management in the case of epidemics like the spread of the Ebola disease. It also highlighted the history of disease outbreaks--its geographical distribution and the actions that must be taken to reduce and control the epidemic outbreak.

 The second UAE Biosecurity Conference represents an important platform for dialogue, the exchange of knowledge and to review the issues related to biosecurity through four main themes-- biosecurity legislation and laws, national and international practices in this area, issues arising from the bio-security and biosecurity and safety in cases of emergency. The event falls in line with the national agenda of UAE Vision 2021, which aims to make the UAE one of the safest countries in the world.