ABNE Publications - ABNE

The African Biosafety Network of Expertise (ABNE) is an Africa-based, Africa-led initiative established by the AU/NEPAD's Office of Science and Technology. ABNE was conceptualized under NEPAD's Consolidated Plan of Action and fulfills the recommendation of the High-Level African Panel on Modern Biotechnology - Freedom to Innovate, by Juma and Serageldin, 2007 (http://www.nepadst.org/doclibrary/pdfs/biotech_africa_2007.pdf). ABNE is a continent-wide service network that has buy-in from the African governments and was officially approved in 2008 by the African Ministerial Council on Science and Technology (AMCOST) to promote advancement of science and technology for agricultural development in Africa. The overall goal of the ABNE service network is to build functional biosafety systems in Africa. ABNE biosafety services aim to empower African regulators with science-based information, targeting the members of National Biosafety Committees (NBCs), Institutional Biosafety Committees (IBCs), and Plant Quarantine Officers (PQs) so that they can make informed decisions on biotechnology products. This network will draw upon available expertise, resources and infrastructure, and where need be, develop additional capacity and linkages with institutions within Africa and globally.