Having devoted over 45 years of her professional life to veterinary, Ms Iskembaeva is a proven specialist in the development and confirmation of laws and regulations in the area of veterinary, checklists and inspections covering the production of products of animal origin, as well as an expert on food safety, HACCP at food businesses, running seminars and workshops, and providing advice on the Technical Regulations of the Eurasian Customs Union, national legislation and the international requirements of the Codex Alimentarius.
Many years of Gulmairam’s experience in veterinary encompasses veterinary laboratory work, including in a laboratory for avian diseases at the Veterinary Research Institute. After qualifying as a Candidate of Veterinary Sciences, she became an expert trainer on highly dangerous animal diseases, the Technical Regulations of the Eurasian Customs Union, inspections of business entities, the introduction of the information system for inspections of business entities ‘proverka.gov.kg’, and training of territorial inspectors on inspecting the entities overseen by the Veterinary Service. Ms Iskembaeva is proud of her many years of experience of working with international organisations and projects in Kyrgyzstan. In particular, she has served as an expert for a JICA project developing a master plan for quality and safety control for milk and dairy products, as a trainer on the implementation of HACCP in food production, and as a consultant on the development of checklists and the Guidelines for inspecting food businesses. She has taken part in a BOMCA project to set up an interagency working group on HACCP/the Codex Alimentarius and incorporate it into national legislation, and to develop Standard Operating Procedures for products of animal origin for border inspectors, as well as in a GIZ project to develop laws and regulations to simplify border procedures. She has also played an active role in a FAO/WHO/WOAH project to develop a Strategic Plan for antimicrobial resistance, as well as in interagency meetings on veterinary issues, and on drafting and introducing amendments to laws and regulations.
As an expert, Ms Iskembaeva has been invited abroad multiple times, on trips relating to dairy (in New Zealand) and meat (in India) plant inspections, highly dangerous animal diseases (in Italy, Lithuania, Serbia, Ukraine and Georgia), food safety, border veterinary and sanitary requirements and laboratory tests (in Japan and Kazakhstan) and on HACCP and the Codex Alimentarius (in Kazakhstan).
Ms Iskembaeva has been awarded a certificate of gratitude from the then prime minister of Kyrgyzstan, Sooronbay Jeenbekov, a watch engraved with her name from the Kyrgyz government, certificates of appreciation and ‘Outstanding Employee of the State Veterinary and Phytosanitary Security Inspectorate under the Kyrgyz government and of the Kyrgyz Ministry of Agriculture, Food Industry and Land Improvement’ badges.