The World Health Organization (WHO) has long recognized that safety and, in particular, biological safety are important international issues. WHO published the first edition of the Laboratory biosafety manual in 1983. The manual encouraged countries to accept and implement basic concepts in biological safety and to develop national codes of practice for the safe handling of pathogenic microorganisms in laboratories within their geographical borders. Since 1983, many countries have used the expert guidance provided in the manual to develop such codes of practice. A second edition of the manual was published in 1993, and this third edition was published in 2004.