REPORT of THE INTERNATIONAL PLANT PROTECTION
CONVENTION SECRETARIAT (IPPC)
The following communication,
received on 31 March 2016, is being circulated at the request of the International
Plant Protection Convention secretariat (IPPC).
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1. As Members of the SPS Committee may be aware, the Secretariat of the
IPPC began and continues to undergo a transition that includes a reorganization
of the internal structure into two separate units; Standard Setting and
Implementation Facilitation. In a reflection of this reorganization, the
current Capacity Development Committee, if the upcoming Commission agrees, will
be re-constituted under a different name and with different terms of reference
and operating procedures, at some point later this year.
2. While the Secretariat moves forward with the transition, our normal
work continues. We will have four draft standards presented to the upcoming CPM
meeting from 4-8 April in Rome, we have a number of capacity development
activities in which we are involved, and we are actively promoting an effort to
establish an International Year of Plant Health in 2020. This initiative,
proposed in last year's CPM by Finland is rapidly gaining support, and the IPPC
thanks Finland for this initiative as well as Ireland, which has generously
provided the very first financial resources to make the IYPH a reality.
Comprehensive information and papers prepared for the upcoming CPM meeting in
April are publicly available on our website: https://www.ippc.int/en/core-activities/governance/cpm/.
3. A strong effort went into developing a framework for standards and
implementation. This topic has been discussed at length in two separate working
group meetings, as well as meetings of the Bureau, the SPG and the Standards
Committee. A revised Framework for Standards and Implementation was discussed
in the 2015 SPG and is being presented to this year's CPM. This important piece
of work will help to set the future direction of standard setting in the IPPC
for some years to come.
4. The IPPC's work on electronic Phytosanitary certification (ePhyto)
received a significant boost with an award from the Standards and Trade
Development Facility (STDF) working group for USD1 million to develop an
ePhyto hub that can be used by all contracting parties. This effort is the
product of the ePhyto steering group with input from the Secretariat. The
intent for 2016 is to have a pilot project launched which would then lead into
a true ePhyto system with a hub and web-based application. The Republic of
Korea also hosted the 2nd ePhyto symposium that significantly
contributed to progress in the project's development.
5. Another key event for the past year was the work done to complete
STDF project 350 which saw the development, publication and distribution of a
number of manuals that will provide essential information for National Plant
Protection Organizations (NPPOs) and plant health professionals. This project,
along with STDF project 401 to develop a cadre of Phytosanitary Capacity
Evaluation (PCE) facilitators, are building blocks of a long term capacity
development strategy for the IPPC.
6. The IPPC Secretary as well as representatives of IPPC Contracting
Parties participated in a workshop to increase synergies between the members of
the Liaison Group of Biodiversity related Conventions in January. The agenda
covered a wide variety of topics, and the IPPC reported on developments related
to activities related to the International Year of Plant Health proposal (https://www.ippc.int/en/iyph/), as
well as ePhyto efforts (to include additional cooperation between CITES and
IPPC on similar systems). We have also made additional efforts to expand
awareness of the IPPC with additional international organizations with mutual
interests, most recently with the World Customs Organization, among others.
7. Finally, the IPPC secretariat would also like to express its
appreciation for the continued financial and human resources support provided
by a number of our contracting parties, in addition to those mentioned above,
including Australia, Canada, the European Union, Finland, France, the Republic
of Korea, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.
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