At the meeting, the representatives of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) praised the five-year successful partnership and expressed a desire to further deepen existing cooperation.

The First Deputy Minister thanked the representatives of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for implementing the Draft Cooperation Agreement in Georgia "Global Protection and Improvement of Public Health", through which a number of successful programs in the field of food safety, plant protection and veterinary programs have been carried out in the country.

"The relationship with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is very successful in developing both the State Laboratory of Agriculture and the National Food Agency. As part of the project, both agencies were re-equipped. It is the result of this cooperation that this year the export of various products from Georgia will exceed almost 1,100,000 US dollars. I think that with the continuation of the existing project, the National Food Agency, the Agricultural Scientific-Research Center and the State Laboratory of Agriculture will be further strengthened,” - Giorgi Khanishvili stated.

Charles Vitek heard about the experience gained by the Ministry in the relevant fields under the existing cooperation agreement and received information about the challenges in terms of laboratory re-equipment, veterinary and food safety in the country.

The meeting was attended by the representatives of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and relevant Agencies included within the Ministry system.