The development of effective biosafety systems is important, both to encourage the growth of domestic agricultural R&D and to ensure safe access to new products and technologies developed elsewhere. The absence of a functional biosafety regulatory framework hinders public- and private-sector investment in agricultural development and makes products of modern agricultural research unavailable in a country.

Recent advances in agricultural applications of modern biotechnology, when properly applied, have a significant potential to contribute to sustainable gains in agricultural productivity and to reducing poverty and enhancing food security in developing regions. A growing body of literature exists documenting the farm-level benefits of genetically-modified (GM) plant varieties, such as introducing new traits providing enhanced resistance to diseases, potential tolerance to drought and soils contaminated with high concentrations of salt or heavy metals, and improved productivity. The potential for adverse environmental and human health consequences arising from the introduction of GM plants into agriculture has led to the development of regulatory regimes that are specifically applied to assessing the biosafety of these products. Developing countries face issues of how to foster a regulatory environment characterized by transparency and enabling innovation, and how to provide an effective system of accountability and stakeholder participation to build public confidence in decisionmaking.

The purpose of the Program for Biosafety Systems (PBS) is to empower partner countries for science-based biosafety decisionmaking, while strengthening capacity to implement national biosafety systems.  The overall goal of the program is to more effectively address biosafety within a sustainable development strategy, anchored by agriculture-led economic growth, trade, and environment objectives. By the completion of the PBS program in 2013, it is intended that the following strategic outcomes will be accomplished:  

1. A regulatory decisionmaking system that enables safe products to get to market is in place in partner countries in Africa and Asia that have demonstrated commitment to applying new biotechnologies in their food and agricultural sector.
2. Partner countries with established regulatory systems have efficiently responded to emerging requirements resulting from international agreements or post-commercialization requirements.
3. Robust regulatory approaches and risk analysis processes for biotechnology applications and commodity trade, based on commissioned scientific and policy research and regional consultations and collaboration with national and regional partners, have been incorporated into decisionmaking processes in target countries.
4. Regulatory authorities and scientific institutions in target countries have conducted and implemented regulatory assessments, systematic stakeholder analyses, and timely decisionmaking on a pipeline of promising agricultural biotechnologies and traded commodities.