CONVENTION SECRETARIAT (IPPC)

(As of 20 june 2014)

The following communication, received on 4 July 2014, is being circulated at the request of the International Plant Protection Convention secretariat (IPPC).

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1  Introduction

1.1.  This report covers general activities which have taken place subsequent to our last report in March 2014 (i.e. the period March 2014 – June 2014).

1.2.  The Ninth Session of Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM-9) took place from 31 March to 4 April 2014. Activities taking place in the areas of Capacity Development are presented in another document.

1.3.  The Committee is invited to note that the current number of contracting parties to the IPPC is 181 (no new members in the covered period).

2  Standard Setting Work Programme

2.1  International Standards on Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs) adopted by CPM-9 (2014)

2.1.  CPM-9 (2014) adopted the following ISPMs:

·         Appendix 1 to ISPM 12 (Phytosanitary Certificates) on Electronic certification, information on standard XML schemes and exchange mechanisms;

·         Annex 2 to ISPM 26 (Establishment of pest free areas for fruit flies (Tephritidae)) on Control measures for an outbreak within a fruit fly-pest free area; and,

·         Phytosanitary Treatment (PT) 15: Vapour heat treatment for Bactrocera cucurbitae on Cucumis melo var. reticulatus to be included as an annex in ISPM 28:2007 (Phytosanitary Treatments)

2.2.  CPM-9 (2014) also noted that the Standards Committee (SC) adopted on behalf of CPM:

·         Diagnostic Protocol (DP) 4: Tilletia indica Mitra (2004-014) as an annex to ISPM 27:2006 (Diagnostic protocols for regulated pests).

2.3.  All ISPMs are published on the IPP.^[1]

2.4.  Formal objections were received 14 days prior to the CPM-9 (2014) on the draft ISPM on the Determination of host status of fruit to fruit fly (Tephritidae) (2006-031) and on seven draft phytosanitary treatments. The formal objections on draft ISPM on the Determination of host status of fruit to fruit fly (Tephritidae) (2006-031) have been reviewed by the SC and forwarded to the TPFF for their consideration. The formal objections on the seven draft phytosanitary treatments have been forwarded by the SC to the Technical Panel on Phytosanitary Treatments (TPPT) for their consideration.

2.5.  The draft diagnostic protocol on Phyllosticta citricarpa (McAlpine) Aa on fruit (2004-023) had received a formal objection during the notification period (15 December 2013 - 30 January 2014). Details on this formal objection can be found on the IPP.^[2]

2.2  List of topics for IPPC Standards

2.6.  CPM-9 (2014) reviewed and modified the List of Topics for IPPC Standards by:

a.      Adding the following topics:

·         Guidance on pest risk management, with priority 1 and IPPC Strategic Objectives A and C

·         Authorization of non-NPPO entities to perform phytosanitary actions, with priority 3 and IPPC Strategic Objective C

·         Requirements for the use of chemical treatments as a phytosanitary measure, with priority 3 and IPPC Strategic Objectives A, B and C

·         Requirements for the use of fumigation as a phytosanitary measure, with priority 1 and IPPC Strategic Objectives A, B and C

·         Requirements for the use of temperature treatments as a phytosanitary measure, with priority 1 and IPPC Strategic Objectives A, B and C

·         Requirements for the use of modified atmosphere treatments as a phytosanitary measure, with priority 2 and IPPC Strategic Objectives A, B and C

·         Requirements for the use of irradiation as a phytosanitary measure (Revision to ISPM 18), with priority 2 and IPPC Strategic Objectives A, B and C

b.     Deleting the following topics:

·         Surveillance for citrus canker (Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri) (2002-001)

·         Systems approach for management of citrus canker (Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri) (2003-001)

·         The following specific topics under the Technical Panel for Phytosanitary Treatments:

-         Irradiation treatments (2006-014)

-         Wood packaging material treatments (2006-015)

-         Fruit fly treatments (2006-024)

-         Soil and growing media in association with plants: treatments (2009-006)

2.7.  Regarding the draft ISPM on Minimizing pest movement by sea containers (2008-001), CPM‑9 (2014) welcomed the recent adoption of the Code of Practice for Packing of Cargo Transport Units (CTU Code) by UNECE and looked forward to the adoption also by IMO and ILO of the revised CTU Code later this year. The SC in May 2014 reviewed the conceptual comments submitted on the draft ISPM but deferred this topic for further review to the November 2014 SC meeting.

2.3  Substantial Concerns Commenting Period

2.8.  The following draft ISPMS were approved by the SC-7 for the Substantial Concerns Commenting Period^[3] (1 June - 30 September 2014):

·         Amendments to ISPM 5 (Glossary of phytosanitary terms) (1994-001)

·         International movement of growing media in association with plants for planting (2005-004)

·         International movement of wood (2006-029)

·         Phytosanitary procedures for Fruit Fly (Tephritidae) management (2005-010)

2.9.  Comments must be submitted through the IPPC contact point using the Online Comment System.

2.4  Member Consultation

2.10.  The following draft ISPMS were approved by the SC for Member Consultation^[4] (1 July – 30 November 2014):

·         Draft ISPM: Amendments to ISPM 5: Glossary of Phytosanitary Terms (1994-001)

·         Draft ISPM: International movement of seeds (2009-003)

·         Draft ISPM: International movement of used vehicles, machinery and equipment (2006-004)

·         Draft DP: Ditylenchus destructor / D. dipsaci (2004-017)

·         Draft DP: Erwinia amylovora (2004-009)

·         Draft DP: Genus Anastrepha spp. (2004-015)

·         Draft DP: Phytoplasmas (general) (2004-018)

·         Draft PT: Cold treatment for Ceratitis capitata on Citrus clementina var. Clemenules (2010-102)

·         Draft PT: Cold treatment for Ceratitis capitata on Citrus sinensis var. Navel and Valencia-late (2010-103)

·         Draft PT: High temperature forced air treatment for Bactrocera melanotus and B. xanthodes (diptera: tephritidae) on Carica papaya (2009-105)

·         Draft PT: Phytosanitary Treatment on Irradiation for Ostrinia nubilalis (2012-009)

·         Draft PT: Vapour heat treatment for Bactrocera dorsalis on Carica papaya var. solo (2009-109)

·         Draft PT: Vapour heat treatment for Ceratitis capitata on Mangifera indica (2010-106)

2.11.  Comments must be submitted through the IPPC contact point using the Online Comment System.

2.5  Draft Specifications approved by the SC in May 2014

2.12.  The following Specifications were approved by the SC:

·         Specification 60: International movement of grain (2008-007)

·         Specification 61: Revision of ISPM 6, Guidelines for Surveillance (2009-004)

2.13.  Due to the high volume of diagnostic protocols that are foreseen to be finalized for member consultation in the coming few years, two member consultation periods for diagnostic protocols will be held annually starting in 2015 (1 February 2015 and 1 July 2015).

2.6  Call for experts

2.14.  The IPPC made two calls for experts since March 2014:

·         DP authors for the draft DP on Anoplophora spp. (2004-020)^[5]

·         Call for participants for Expert Consultation on phytosanitary treatments for the Bactrocera dorsalis complex (details are provided below)

2.15.  More information on the call for experts to the Expert Consultation on phytosanitary treatments for the Bactrocera dorsalis complex is below.

2.7  Expert Consultation on Phytosanitary Treatments for the Bactrocera dorsalis complex

2.16.  An Expert Consultation on Phytosanitary Treatments for Bactrocera dorsalis complex, will be held in Okinawa, Japan 1-5 December 2014. The IPPC Secretariat is soliciting nominations for qualified experts and scientists to participate in this expert consultation. Invited experts would be expected to share an overview of treatments they have developed and through discussion, participants should be able to identify and agree how to address the main issues in the development of B. dorsalis complex treatments such as experimental design, statistical analyses, confirmatory trials, treatment evaluation and treatment submission. Nominations may be submitted to the IPPC Secretariat (ippc@fao.org) no later than 29 August 2014. Further information may be found on the IPP.^[6]

2.8  Standard setting calendar

2.17.  The standard setting calendar is presented on the IPP.^[7]

3  National Reporting Obligations

3.1  Contact points

3.1.  The IPPC Secretariat strongly requests that the member countries update the IPPC contact points, as a basic path for any information exchange, to properly provide their information with the Secretariat, other countries as well as broader stakeholders. International Phytosanitary Portal (IPP) https://www.ippc.int.

3.2.  The IPPC Secretariat encourages countries to visit the IPPC website for updates as there continues to be a lot of information being made available by countries, along with news and official information from the Secretariat.  The Secretariat is constantly seeking ways to improve the IPP to increase its efficiency and improve the appearance and responsiveness. While this has caused some technical issues, the ultimate result will be a much more responsive and informative IPPC webpage.

3.3.  Meanwhile, information continues to be added to the IPP by countries. New formats for accessing information are also being developed e.g. https://www.ippc.int/countries/pestreports-map.

3.4.  The information available through the IPP has substantially increased, in particular for the area of capacity development by the time of CPM-9 (March, 2014), and is available through:

i.        Phytosanitary Resource Page: http://www.phytosanitary.info

ii.       IRSS: https://www.ippc.int/index.php?id=1111059&L=0#irssactivities

iii.     IRSS Help Desk: https://www.ippc.int/index.php?id=1111059&L=0#helpdesk

iv.     IPPC Projects Database: http://projects.phytosanitary.info

v.      eLearning: http://elearning.phytosanitary.info

vi.     A summary of IPPC Publications: https://www.ippc.int/about/mediakit

3.2  National Reporting Obligations Advisory Group (NROAG)

3.5.  The CPM recognizes that substantial further improvement in NROs should take place to meet the reporting obligations in the New Revised Text of the IPPC Convention (1997) and to this end CPM established NROAG, which will meet during early July, 2014. The group will review the current NRO programme, develop action plan for further improvements, made suggestions to effectively improvement the programme, and will ultimately report to the CPM-10.

3.6.  IPPC contracting parties will see a substantial increase in NRO activity in the near future and countries are encouraged to engage appropriately to ensure the whole NRO system functions more effectively and with more timely and accurate information.

4  Communications

4.1.  As a follow up to the IPPC Communications Strategy adopted by CPM-8 (2013), the Secretariat is developing and will implement a communications work plan based on the completed IPPC communications needs assessment. This will provide the IPPC a clearer framework which will target the appropriate audiences and all the plan to be implemented in a more systematic manner for maximum cost effectiveness.

4.2.  The following social media pages for the IPPC are available:

i.        Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/pages/International-Plant-Protection-Convention-IPPC/113230338690380?ref=tn_tnmn

ii.       Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/ippcnews

iii.     LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=3175642&trk=hb_side_g

iv.     Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/groups/international_plant_protection_convention/

v.       YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/IPPCnews

5  Dispute Settlement

5.1.  A case is currently under the IPPC dispute settlement process, and a meeting of Subsidiary Body on Dispute Settlements will take place shortly to review the IPPC dispute settlement advocacy material.

6  Implementation Review and support system (IRSS)

6.1.  The first three year cycle of the IRSS concluded in March 2014. During the implementation period it focused much of its efforts on the Review element of the programme. A second cycle, which began in April 2014, is expected to focus on strengthening the Support element using largely the outputs of the first cycle in particular the data gathered through its many surveys.

6.2.  The IRSS has had notable impact resulting in stimulating the CPM to discuss the need for a more focussed approach on implementation activities. In this regard the CPM decided to establish an open ended working group on Implementation which will convene in Rome in August 2014 to consider the elements for such a programme including a pilot activity on pest surveillance building on current IPPC and IPPC partner activities and the results of the work of the IRSS.

6.3.  The ISPMs that were analysed by the IRSS include: ISPM 4:1995 Requirements for the establishment of pest free areas; ISPM 8:1998 Determination of pest status in an area; ISPM 6:1997 Guidelines for surveillance; ISPM 13:2001 Guidelines for the notification of non-compliance and emergency action; ISPM 17:2002 Pest reporting and ISPM 19:2003 Guidelines on lists of regulated pests. These standards all relate to a large extent on pest surveillance and therefore will provide baseline information for prospective implementation activities.

6.4.  The IRSS conducted two studies, one on Aquatic Plants and the other on Internet Trade (E‑Commerce) during the first implementation cycle. Two IPPC recommendations were prepared for CPM consideration based on these studies

6.5.  IRSS products can be downloaded at: http://irss.ippc.int/activities/.

7  CPM Reccomendations

7.1.  CPM-9 (2014) adopted the following two CPM Recommendations:

·         CPM-9/2014/01 on IPPC coverage of aquatic plants; and

·         CPM-9/2014/02 on Internet trade (e-commerce) in plants and other regulated articles

(https://www.ippc.int/core-activities/governance/cpm/cpm-recommendations).

7.2.  It was also agreed that a proposal for a CPM recommendation on pest movement by sea containers be developed and presented to CPM-10 (2015).

8  Resource Mobilization

8.1.  The Secretariat would like to thank all those contracting parties and other donors who contributed to the 2013 budget and activities of the IPPC. The IPPC once again encourages them to consider future, sustainable contributions. These donations will help to ensure the core work programme will be delivered. A full list of support is made available to CPM each year and can be found at: https://www.ippc.int/resource-mobilisation.

8.2.  The sustainability of the IPPC Secretariat, and hence the work programme of the IPPC, continues to be addressed as a high priority on an on-going basis. The current resource allocation (financial and human resources) measured against projected tasks is not sustainable. The Secretariat staff continues to engage in discussions with the governing body as well as traditional and non-traditional partners to improve the situation.

8.3.  It cannot be stressed enough that it is essential the IPPC receive regular and predictable contributions to provide sustainability to the work programme. The FAO continues to faces severe financial challenges and is seeking cost reduction efforts in most areas; as a result the resources available to the IPPC activities continue to be affected, specifically in the area of information technology and support for the On-line Comment System.

8.4.  The Secretariat remains open to any discussion with members or partner organizations that could provide solutions to the current challenges, particularly in the medium to long term.

9  Electronic Certification in the IPPC (ePhyto)

9.1.  The issue of ePhyto is a high priority for CPM and the revised Appendix 1 (Electronic certification, information on standard XML schemes and exchange mechanisms (2006-003)) to ISPM 12:2011 is out for member consultation (See above, section III.C.). The IPPC Secretariat has created an ePhyto web page (http://ephyto.ippc.int/) on the IPP containing information on codes and schema to be used in ePhytos.

9.2.  After the CPM discussions on the result of ePhyto hub feasibility study^[8], the ePhyto Steering Group will discuss to propose further actions on this issue. The IPPC believes this represents a potential opportunity for future collaboration with OIE and Codex.

9.3.  General information on ePhyto can be found on the IPPC Website at: http://www.ippc.int/index.php?id=1111140 or obtained from the IPPC Secretariat (ippc@fao.org).

10  Cooperation with the WTO Standard Setting Organizations

10.1.  The IPPC secretariat would like to draw attention to the following current on-going activities with Codex and OIE:

i.        Codex and the IPPC continue explore ways of addressing their IT needs in a more sustainable manner and share tools and skills when appropriate;

ii.       Codex and the IPPC are now collaborating fully in the operational maintenance and improvement of the OCS;

iii.     Codex, OIE and the IPPC continue to engage in consultations on Standard Trade and Development Facility (STDF) activities to understand each other’s positions and coordinate activities and responses;

iv.     There is ongoing cooperation between the "three sisters" on SPS-related capacity development projects, if and when appropriate;

v.      The Secretariat continues to participate in coordination meetings between the "three sisters" to improve coordination and collaboration in SPS Committee meetings;

vi.     Ad-hoc consultations are undertaken as and when subjects arise that are of mutual interest; and

vii.   The Secretariat is committed to sustaining the deeper relationship between the "three sisters" to address future issues in the SPS Committee Secretariat and beyond.

11  oTHER IPPC aCTIVITIES related to THE wto

11.1.  As indicated previously, the IPPC formally requested the opportunity to become a member of the Preparatory Committee for the Agreement on Trade Facilitation (ATF) to contribute to the legal review process, but no replies have been received. If the General Council adopts the ATF text as revised after the legal review process, the ATF will be open for acceptance until July 2015. By that time, developing countries are supposed to submit the commitments of Articles in relation with Categories A, B and C (with designations of implementation dates and requests for assistance), according to the Section II of the ATF. As the SPS related authorities get properly involved in the national process for such commitments, we wish to help countries to address the issue when interpretation becomes clearer. The IPPC Secretariat would like to continuously seek an opportunity to focus on reducing impediments to the smooth flow of trade while assuring national governments that all phytosanitary concerns have been addressed.

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