Decree No. 161 of the Council of Ministers validating the Concept of the national system for ensuring biological security.

Concept of the national system for ensuring biological security is a nationwide policy document conceptually covers the whole area of sanitary and epidemiological welfare of the population, as well as related areas - veterinary and sanitary, phytosanitary well-being, environmental security, safety of the environment (industrial, social economic, geopolitical, environmental and others) and is carried out in order to prevent and eliminate biological and social emergencies of natural and man-made nature.
Biological security shall be intended the state of protection of the population, animals and plants, the environment from exposure to hazardous biological factors, ensuring an acceptable level of biological risk.
National interests in the field of biosecurity are: (a) ensuring favorable living conditions for citizens; (b) ensuring the protection of biological species (animals, plants, microorganisms) from exposure to hazardous biological factors; (c) prevention of the spread of pathogenic biological agents as a result of natural processes and natural phenomena (infections, epidemics, epizootics, epiphytotic processes, GMO invasion and (or) their combinations); (d) control of human infectious diseases spreading in the country, contagious animal diseases, control and elimination of pests, invasive species; (e) ensuring the compliance of food and plant products with sanitary anti-epidemic, veterinary-sanitary and phytosanitary requirements set out by international organizations and importing countries in order to implement export potential of the Republic of Belarus and expansion of its presence in the world market; (f) ensuring the protection of the country's territory from possible negative consequences, related to the importation, creation, use and (or) distribution of genetic engineering activities or their derivatives; (g) prevention of risks associated with the loss of effectiveness of medicines and plant protection products due to the development of pathogenic microorganisms, parasites and pest resistance to them; (h) development of controlled biotechnologies necessary to create and produce drugs for the treatment and prevention of human infectious diseases, contagious animal diseases, increasing the productivity of agricultural animals and plants; (i) countering sabotage with the use of pathogenic biological agents and accidents, deliberate (bioterrorism) and unintentional (dual-use biotechnology) creation and distribution of pathogenic biological agents on dangerous and potentially dangerous biological objects; and (j) strengthening international and national mechanisms to ensure biological security.
Ensuring biological security is carried out according to the following strategic directions allocated in accordance with the main areas of exposure to dangerous biological factors: (a) human biological security; (b) biological security of animals; (c) biological security of plants; (d) genetic security; and (e) control of invasive species.
The objectives of activities to ensure biological security are: (a) determination of the main directions and strategic planning in the field of ensuring biological security; (b) creation of a system for ensuring biological security and organization of its effective functioning; (c) defining biosecurity measures and maintaining the state of protection of the population, animals and plants, the environment from exposure to hazardous biological factors; (d) forecasting the development of the epidemiological and epizootic situation, taking into account existing conditions for carrying out or not carrying out measures to prevent spreading of infections (based on information about the situation in the Republic of Belarus or other countries of the world); (e) forecasting, detection, analysis, biological risk assessment and management thereof; (f) neutralization of sources of internal risks and protection against external risks of biological nature; (g) development and application of measures to identify, prevent and eliminate biological risks, including those detected as a result of monitoring of biological risks, localization and neutralization of the consequences of their manifestation; (h) development, production and implementation of new technologies and methods, ensuring the requirements of biological security when using pathogenic biological agents, and their standardization; (i) organization of scientific activities in the field of biological security; (j) collection activities related to the creation and use of the bank of microorganisms (pathogenic, opportunistic, genetically modified and others); and (k) interdepartmental interaction and coordination of actions to ensure biological security.