The One Borneo Initiative will improve monitoring and inspection to stop pests and diseases affecting animals, fisheries, plants, or human health from spreading and crossing borders. Photo credit: iStock/gamalis.
Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, and Malaysia have signed the letter of intent on the launch of the One Borneo Quarantine Initiative on 26 October in Bandar Seri Begawan during the 26th BIMP-EAGA Ministerial Meeting. The initiative will strengthen cooperation in health security by improving monitoring and inspection to stop pests and diseases from spreading and crossing borders.
The three countries share the island of Borneo, the third largest in the world. The island comprises the entire sultanate of Brunei Darussalam; the provinces of Kalimantan in Indonesia; and Sabah, Sarawak, and the Federal Territory of Labuan in Malaysia. Borneo forms a large part of the BIMP-EAGA subregion, and protecting the island from the incursion of pests and diseases is critical to socioeconomic development and stability.
Health cooperation was not part of the BIMP-EAGA development agenda. However, disease control is covered by the Working Group on Customs, Immigration, Quarantine, and Security (CIQS), which was recently upgraded as the Trade Facilitation Cluster.
Ministers at the 26th BIMP-EAGA Ministerial Meeting welcomed the signing of the letter of intent, which will play a key role in sustaining and strengthening trade flows and supply chains in the subregion by ensuring safety measures are observed. It was signed by Mohammad Harris bin Brigadier General (Retired) Dato Paduka Haji Ibrahim, Deputy Permanent Secretary (Trade and Industry) at the Ministry of Finance and Economy of Brunei Darussalam; Dr. Edi Prio Pambudi, Deputy Ministry International Economic Cooperation at the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs of Indonesia; and Datuk Dr. Zunika Mohamed, Deputy Secretary General (Policy) at the Ministry of Economy of Malaysia.
Health security cooperation
Hard lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic underscore the importance of regional cooperation in enabling coordinated responses to public health threats.
ASEAN, which groups 10 countries in Southeast Asia—including BIMP-EAGA countries, mobilized regional actions to support national efforts against COVID-19 at the start of the outbreak. It activated regional mechanisms that were already in place to fill data and information gaps as well as share knowledge and response practices and lessons in a timely manner. These include the ASEAN Emergency Operations Centre Network for public health emergencies (ASEAN EOC Network), which provides daily updates and information on prevention, detection, and response measures to member states and development partners; ASEAN BioDioaspora Regional Virtual Centre (ABVC) for big data analytics and visualization, which produces risk assessment reports; the ASEAN plus Three Field Epidemiology Training Network (APT FETN), which strengthens public health and animal health epidemiology capacity; and the Regional Public Health Laboratory Network, which facilitates exchanges on laboratory readiness and response and disease surveillance actions.
The One Borneo Quarantine Initiative will build cooperation among quarantine agencies of the three countries. It identifies measures and strategies for strengthening health security. These include enhancing quarantine monitoring and inspection through designated points of entry and exit, sharing information on pests and diseases, strengthening disease surveillance and diagnostic capacity, raising awareness and improving knowledge and skills of stakeholders (including quarantine officers, local authorities, business communities, and the general public), and conducting joint inspection at common borders.
Implementation will be subject to national laws, regulations, and policies and require specific and separate agreements among the countries or their agencies.
Stocktaking and coverage
Through the initiative, the countries will take stock of existing quarantine and health laws and regulations of participating countries, identify the policy gaps, and recommend joint, integrated, or harmonized measures for effective control and intervention at entry points. They will assess their capacity to maintain pest- or disease-free areas and to control movement from areas that are infested or infected as well as the availability of experts, skills, capacity, and institutional mechanisms to effectively implement the initiative.
The letter of intent provides a list of 21 pests and diseases affecting animals, fisheries, plants, or human health, which are not present or limited to certain areas of the subregion. These include avian flu, African swine fever, foot and mouth disease, rabies, white tail disease, South American leaf blight, red palm weevil, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV), tuberculosis, yellow fever, and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
It also identifies the designated points of entry and exit. These are Sungai Tujuh Immigration Control Post in Kuala Belait, Brunei Darussalam; Pos Lintas Batas Darat Negara Entikong in Sanggau Regency in West Kalimantan, Indonesia; and Tebedu ICQS Complex in Serian and Sungai Tujuh ICQS Complex in Kuala Baram in Sarawak, Malaysia.