, within the framework of the Twinning project of the European Union “Strengthening of sanitary and phytosanitary measures in Azerbaijan”, organized by the Azerbaijan Food Safety Agency (AQTA), the International Plant Health Forum was first held.
The purpose of the forum is to attract attention to the issues of health and protection of plants, informing the public about the planned changes in this area, including the measures that will be undertaken in this direction in the near future.
The event was attended by the Minister of Agriculture of Azerbaijan Inam Kerimov, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Mukhtar Babaev, EU Ambassador to Azerbaijan Peter Mikhalko, official representatives of Latvia and Lithuania.
AQTA Chairman Goshgar Tahmazli spoke about consistent and targeted measures taken in the direction of institutional changes in food security system in Azerbaijan. Emphasizing the importance of plant protection at the global and national levels, Takhmazli noted that ensuring plant health is becoming a very important issue for improving productivity, facilitating international trade and maintaining environmental balance. Given this, for the past period in Azerbaijan, significant results have been achieved to improve the regulatory framework in the field of health and protection protection, the development of the control system in this area.
So, five phytosanitary laboratories have been created in Baku and regions for the most complex analyzes based on modern requirements, and molecular biological structures were first created in the field of control for conducting virological and bacteriological studies. The requirements for plant health in the country, as well as a number of phytosanitary norms and rules based on international standards, have been developed and included in the state register of legal acts. In addition, for the first time in Azerbaijan, a national monitoring plan has been developed and successfully implemented to determine the presence and spread of harmful microorganisms.
Then the forum continued his work in two sessions. The sessions were devoted to the topics “Improving the plant protection system in Azerbaijan”, “Improving the legal framework and management in the field of plant health”, “The role of the private sector in the state of plant health in Azerbaijan”, “Prospects for the use of IT systems for AQTA and the needs of the private sector” and others.
Note that the project “Strengthening sanitary and phytosanitary measures in Azerbaijan” is implemented by AQTA in cooperation with the State Plant Protection Service and the State Plant Service under the Ministry of Agriculture of Lithuania. The general goal of the project is to help increase the safety of food and feed and expand export capabilities in accordance with improved sanitary and phytosanitary standards.