WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SPS/GEN/183
19 June 2000
(00-2448)
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:  English
EXPLANATORY DOCUMENT ON OFFICIAL CONTROL
Submission by the International Plant Protection Convention Secretariat (IPPC)
The attached document represents the most recent draft of the IPPC's explanatory document
on Official Control.  This was approved by the First Interim Standards Committee at their meeting 15-
19 May.  The IPPC Secretariat is currently translating the document and will immediately send it to
governments for consultation.  Comments from governments are to be submitted to the IPPCSecretariat before 30 October in order to be considered by the Interim Standards Committee at its next
meeting 27 November to 1 December.
Approval of the document by the next meetin g of the Interim Standards Committee will make
it possible for the document to be submitted to the Third Session of the Interim Commission onPhytosanitary Measures for adoption in April 2001.G/SPS/GEN/183
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GLOSSARY OF PHYTOSANITARY TERMS
Supplement No. 1
Guidelines on the Interpretation and Application of the
Concept of Official Control for Regulated Pests
1. Purpose
The words "officially controlled" express an essential concept in the definition of a quarantine
pest.  The Glossary of Phytosanitary Terms defines "Official" as "Established, authorized or
performed by an NPPO" and "Con trol" as "Suppression, containment or eradication of a pest
population".  However, for phytosanitary purposes, the concept of "official control" is not adequately
expressed by the combination of these two definitions.  The purpose of this guideline is to describe
more precisely the interpretation of the concept of official control and its application in practice.
2. Scope
This guideline refers only to the official control of regulated pests.  For the purposes of this
guideline, the relevant regulated pests are quarantine pests which are present in an importing country
but not widely distributed, and regulated non-quarantine pests.
3. Definition
Official control is defined as:
The active enforcement of mandatory phyto sanitary regulations and the application of
mandatory phytosanitary procedures with the objective of eradication or containment of
quarantine pests or for the management of regulated non-quarantine pests.
4. General requirements
Official control is subject to the "Principles of plant quarantine as related to international
trade", in particular the principles of non-discrimi nation, transparency, equivalence and risk analysis.
In the case of a quarantine pest which is present but not widely distributed, and possibly in the
case of certain regulated non-quarantine pests, the importing country should define infested area(s),endangered area(s) and protected area(s).
Official control includes:
• eradication and/or containment in infested area(s);
• surveillance in endangered area(s); and
• controls on movement into protected area(s) including measures applied at import.
All official control programmes have elements that are mandatory.  At minimum, programme
evaluation and pest surveillance are required in official control programmes to determine the need for
and effect of control to justify measures applied at import for the same purpose.  Measures applied at
import should be consistent with the principle of non-discrimination.G/SPS/GEN/183
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For quarantine pests, eradication and containment may have an element of suppression.  For
regulated non-quarantine pests, suppression may be used to avoid unacceptable economic impact as it
applies to the intended use of plants for planting.
5. Specific requirements
5.1 Non-discrimination
The principle of non-discrimination between domestic and import requirements is of
fundamental importance.  In particular, an exporting country must be assured that requirements for
imports are not more stringent than the effect of official control in an importing country.
There must therefore be consistency between import and domestic requirements:
• import requirements should not be more stringent than domestic requirements;
• domestic and import requirements should be the same or have an equivalent effect;
• mandatory elements of domestic and import requirements should be the same;
• the intensity of inspection at import should be the same as equivalent processes in
domestic control programmes;
• in the case of non-compliance, the same or equivalent actions should be taken at
import as are taken domestically;
• if a tolerance is applied within a national programme, the same tolerance should be
applied to equivalent imported material.  In particular, if no action is taken in theofficial control programme if the infestation level does not exceed a particular level,
then no action should be taken for an imported consignment if its infestation level
does not exceed that same level.  Compliance with import tolerance is generally
determined by inspection or testing at entry, whereas the tolerance for domestic
consignments should be determined at the last point where official control is applied.
5.2 Transparency
The import and domestic requirements for official control should be documented and made
available, on request.
5.3 Technical justification (risk analysis)
Domestic and import requirements should be technically justified and result in non-
discriminatory risk management.
5.4 Enforcement
The domestic enforcement of official control programmes should be equivalent to the
enforcement of import requirements.  Enforcement should include:
• legal authority;
• operational implementation;
• evaluation and review;
• official action for non-compliance.G/SPS/GEN/183
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5.5 Mandatory nature of official control
Official control is mandatory in the sense that all persons involved are legally bound to
perform the actions required.  The scope of official control programmes for quarantine pests is
completely mandatory (e.g. procedures for eradication campaigns), whereas the scope for regulatednon-quarantine pests is mandatory only in certain circumstances (e.g. official certification
programmes).
5.6 Area of application
An official control programme can be applied at national, sub-national or on an area basis.
The area of application of official control measures must be specified.  Any import restrictions musthave the same effect as the measures applied internally for official control.
5.7 NPPO authority and involvement in Official Control
Official control should:
• be established or recognized by the National Government or NPPO under appropriate
legislative authority;
• be performed, managed, supervised or, at minimum, audited/reviewed by the NPPO;
• have enforcement assured by the National Government or NPPO;
• be modified, terminated, or lose official recognition as necessary according to the
National Government or NPPO.
Responsibility and accountability for official control programmes rests with the National
Government.  Agencies other than the NPPO may be responsible for aspects of official control
programmes, and certain aspects of official control programmes may be the responsibility of sub-
national authorities or the private sector.  Howeve r, because the NPPO is responsible for measures
applied at import which may be based on official control programmes, and also responsible for
official communication with other NPPOs regarding import requirements and actions taken at import,
the NPPO must be fully aware of all aspects of  official control programmes in their country.
References:
Report of the ICPM Open Ended Working Group on Official Control (22-24 March 2000, Bordeaux,
France); IPPC Secretariat, FAO, Rome.
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