During the Summit held on September 29 in Minsk, the Council of Heads of Government adopted the Agreement on Cooperation of the CIS member states on Locust Pest Control.
The Agreement aims to:
- enhance regional and cross-border cooperation in this area;
- reduce risks of locust pests outbreaks;
- coordinate joint actions to implement phytomonitoring and plant protection measures, safeguard human health, and protect the environment.
The Agreement provides for the development of national digital programs and geoinformation monitoring systems for tracking locust spread within the CIS, as well as cooperation in training and professional skills development of employees engaged in pest control.
The Russian Agricultural Center, as the primary developer of the Agreement, prepared the document incorporating proposals from relevant ministries and agencies of the Commonwealth countries, best international practices, and decades of the organization’s experience in this field. The document’s key objective is to facilitate cooperation among the CIS member states to minimize negative impact of locust pests on regional food security.