The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has the mandate to raise levels of nutrition, improve agricultural productivity, better the lives of rural populations and contribute to the growth of the world economy. As a knowledge organization, FAO creates and shares critical information about food, agriculture and natural resources in the form of global public goods. But this is not a one-way flow. FAO plays a connector role, through identifying and working with different partners with established expertise, and facilitating a dialogue between those who have the knowledge and those who need it.

During the period 2002-10, FAO had undertaken an intense activity of biosafety capacity development, centered largely on enhancing the capacities of regulators and others involved in the implementation of biosafety frameworks, along with other components. A Biosafety Resource Book was prepared to serve as reference material for biosafety regulators, policy-makers and members of national biosafety committees that can be readily consulted beyond the training events, when the need arises.