[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] A research facility will be established to prevent high-risk overseas pests and diseases from entering the country.
The Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency announced on the 19th that it will promote the construction of a Biosafety Level 3 (BL3) plant quarantine pest research facility called the 'Plant Quarantine Containment Experimental Building' to proactively respond to the influx of high-risk overseas plant quarantine pests and diseases.
The BL level refers to the management level required to safely handle pathogens for human health and the environment, divided into levels 1 to 4. BL3 corresponds to plant pathogens with a high biological risk.
So far, social and economic costs such as damage to crops and forests and export suspensions have continuously occurred due to overseas pests and diseases, raising the need to establish a containment-type research facility to study high-risk pests and diseases in the plant quarantine field.
The Plant Quarantine Containment Experimental Building will be constructed on the current site of the Quarantine Agency's main office, consisting of one basement floor and two above-ground floors, including containment research buildings, experimental buildings, and greenhouses.
The total construction cost is 19.8 billion KRW, with a design budget of 740 million KRW reflected this year, and design services began on the 17th. The goal is to complete construction and obtain BL3 permits to operate normally by 2025.
An official from the Quarantine Agency said, "We expect that the establishment of the research facility will activate research on plant quarantine pests and diseases and enhance quarantine capabilities," adding, "We will raise quarantine technology for high-risk pests and diseases, which have become more important due to climate change and expanded trade, to an international level and actively respond to changes in quarantine conditions."
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