Guided by the commitments of the ASEAN Leaders’ Declaration, the dialogue underscored the critical need for regional coordination and network development to effectively address biological threats. Participants reaffirmed their commitment to establishing an ASEAN Biosafety and Biosecurity Network, in line with the second commitment of the ASEAN Leaders’ Declaration to “establish the ASEAN Biosafety and Biosecurity Network to enhance functions, roles, and responsibilities in facilitating knowledge sharing, coordination, and cooperation among ASEAN Member States, partners and relevant stakeholders.” The network will serve as a platform for facilitating multi-sectoral cooperation across health, security, animal health, law enforcement, agriculture, and other key sectors. Through interdisciplinary collaboration and policy alignment, the network will contribute to building regional capabilities to prevent, detect and respond to biological threats, whether natural, accidental or deliberate in origin. Dialogue participants stressed the importance of “quick wins” for the network —immediate, high-impact initiatives that can demonstrate the network’s value and encourage multi-sectoral engagement. Some of these quick win strategies can be the development of clear governance structures, terms of reference and a dedicated secretariat function to ensure coordination and accountability. The network will initially be led by the health sector (SOMHD), with participation from the defence sector (ADSOM) and foreign affairs sector (SOM). Over time, the network can progressively integrate other sectors (animal health, law enforcement, agriculture, environment health, etc.) to ensure cross-sectoral collaboration. Once formally established, the ASEAN Centre for Public Health Emergencies and Emerging Diseases (ACPHEED), the region’s forthcoming central entity on public health, can provide oversight to the network.
The network will also lead the development of a Plan of Action (PoA) for the ASEAN Leaders’ Declaration. Through a series of consultative meetings, the PoA will define specific objectives, sectoral engagement strategies, timelines and evaluations mechanisms, ensuring a cohesive regional approach to biosafety and biosecurity that aligns national and regional activities.
The PoA will include regional capacity-building activities, biosurveillance and laboratory networking, and data-sharing arrangements to enhance cross-border and cross-sector collaboration. Additionally, the dialogue also recognized the challenges around diverse contexts, capacities, and regulations on biosafety and biosecurity across ASEAN Member States. Therefore, a regional approach would facilitate standardized implementation, while cross-sector tabletop exercises involving health, defence, foreign affairs, and law enforcement would further strengthen regional preparedness among ASEAN Member States. The dialogue also underscored the significance of key global commitments, including the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC), which prohibits bioweapons developments and encourages peaceful scientific and non-proliferation cooperation, the International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005, the legal framework that guides countries’ prevention and response to public health emergencies, and UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1540, which requires UN Member States to prevent the proliferation of biological threats. While all ASEAN Member States are signatories to these global commitments, differences in national focal points across sectors presents challenges for inter-sectoral coordination. The discussions reaffirmed ASEAN sectoral bodies’ commitment to strengthening multi-sectoral coordination, capacity building, and regulatory frameworks to enhance biosafety and biosecurity. In this context, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Mechanism for Investigation of Alleged Use of Chemical and Biological Weapons (UNSGM) was identified as a key entry point for ASEAN engagement and collaboration. The UNSGM is a group of multi-sectoral experts that carry out investigations in response to allegations of the possible use of chemical and biological weapons and is essential in the absence of an implementing agency for the BTWC.
Participants discussed the importance of leveraging best practices and lessons learned from parallel networks in other regions, such as the African Biosafety Network. The dialogue also examined successful models of international and regional coordination, such as the European Union’s CBRN Risk Mitigation Centers of Excellence Initiative, which could inform ASEAN’s approach. Within ASEAN, successful models of intersectoral coordination and cooperation were highlighted, including Thailand’s joint training programs on laboratory biosafety and biosecurity that engage both health and security sectors; Malaysia’s cross-sector simulation exercises that ensure coordinated responses to biological threats; and Cambodia’s disease surveillance and risk assessment practices that utilizes partnerships between public health, law enforcement and international organizations.
To strengthen regional coordination in biosafety and biosecurity, participants proposed a comprehensive landscape analysis to assess existing frameworks, laboratory capacities, surveillance systems, regulatory policies, and cross-sector collaboration across ASEAN Member States. This analysis aims to identify strengths, critical gaps, and best practices, serving as a foundation for enhancing cooperation and guiding optimal resource mobilization to improve ASEAN’s preparedness and response to biological threats.