he symposium will cover recent developments in technologies applied to animal production and health. The Joint FAO/IAEA Programme welcomes both academic and practice-based contributions, especially but not limited to the following topical areas:

• The use and application of atomic, nuclear, nuclear derived and related technologies in animal nutrition, reproduction, breeding and health.
• Feed resources and feeding strategies under grazing and cut-and-carry production systems in developing countries: what is being done and mechanisms for sustained improved productivity.
• Assisted reproductive technologies for enhanced fertility and offspring with greater productive indexes.
• Radiation hybrid mapping and gene-marker selection in animal characterization and breeding programmes: what do we know and what is missing in developing countries.
• Early and rapid animal disease diagnostic tests in national and decentralized laboratories: staff proficiency, preparedness, emergency response to outbreaks, quality control and quality assurance, international standards (ISO 17025).
• Emerging and re-emerging transboundary and zoonotic animal diseases: threats to food security, public health and international trade.
• The FAO/IAEA Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (VETLAB) Network. Its role on capacity building, transfer of technology and sharing of knowledge and experience.
• Irradiated vaccines. New approaches to inactivate or weaken animal pathogens for developing vaccines against animal and zoonotic diseases.
• Stable isotope tracing: New approaches to trace and monitor migratory and transported animals and their role in the introduction of emerging and re-emerging transboundary animal and zoonotic diseases.

The symposium will be held in English. The programme will comprise keynote addresses, plenary presentations from invited speakers, satellite meetings on selected topics, and group discussions.