Legislative measures to counter biological threats can be developed in the CSTO area

A model legislative act regulating the provision of epidemiological (medical and biological) security in the CSTO Member States could be developed as part of the 2021–2025 CSTO PA Action Plan on Approximation and Harmonization of National Legislation of the CSTO Member States.
According to Umakhan Umakhanov, deputy Chairman of the CSTO PA Standing Commission on Socioeconomic and Legal Issues and deputy Chairman of the Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, the Russian delegation to the Assembly introduced the initiative to that effect during the development of the draft CSTO PA model legislative programme for the next five years. It can already be adopted at the autumn session.
Mr Umakhanov is confident that the topic of counteracting biothreats and joining efforts to this end is extremely important for all CSTO Member States without exception: “This is evidenced by the sad statistics of those who fell ill and died from the new COVID-19 infection; none of the CSTO Member States has managed to avoid this scourge. On the other hand, our states were able to mobilize; CSTO’s mutual-aid system worked; Russia promptly provided the Organization’s Member States, whenever necessary, with both medical equipment and medications.”
Umakhan Umakhanov stressed that the situation with the spread of the infection and measures to counter it have shown that such cooperation between the CSTO Member States needs to be coordinated and formalized.
Mr Umakhanov believes that there may be a demand for a model enactment regulating interaction and ways to resolve issues related to anti-epidemic measures, as it could simplify the organizational part of the process and make it more efficient.
“At the CSTO PA, we are developing future-proof model recommendations, and we cannot rule out a possibility of artificially designed viruses appearing in the future,” he emphasizes.
It should be reminded that the question of improvement of the Russian national system of protection against new infections was discussed on October, 20 at a session of the Interdepartmental Commission of Security Council of the Russian Federation governing these matters.
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, who presided at the meeting of the Interdepartmental Commission, stressed that “The range of challenges facing humanity and any country is quite wide, and this requires us to look to the future already now. To use a strategic approach in our work, to analyse internal and external threats associated with the emergence of new infections, to ensure systematic monitoring of their spread.” “We need to assess the existing mechanisms of protection against new infections and to create a system that will allow us to quickly, and most importantly, effectively protect ourselves from new threats,” said the deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.
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