WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/529 
28 October 2004 
 (04-4581) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
REGIONALIZATION AND THE INTERNATIONAL PLANT  
PROTECTION CONVENTION 
  
Submission by the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC
) 
   The following communication, received on 26 Octo ber 2004, is being circulated at the request 
of the IPPC. 
_______________ 
  
1. Regionalization as discussed at present in the SPS Agreement appears to include two issues: 
the international recognition of pest free areas and ar eas of low pest prevalence;  and the timeliness of 
the (bilateral) recognition of pest free ar eas and areas of low pest prevalence.  
2. The IPPC and its International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs) cover several 
aspects of regionalization (See below).  
Considerations at the IPPC "Informal Working Group on Strategic Planning and Technical 
Assistance"  
3. Regionalization was discussed in the IPPC "Informal Working Group on Strategic Planning 
and Technical Assistance" (SPTA), which met in  Rome from 11 to 16 October 2004.  The SPTA 
recommended that the Interim Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (ICPM) consider the issue further at its next session in early April 2005.  The relevant section of the report is reproduced below: 
 "Regionalization
 
 
The SPTA discussed regionalization. It noted that this topic was under discussion in 
the SPS Committee.  The issues of di scussion in the SPS Committee concerned 
administrative measures (in particular undue  delays in the procedures leading to 
bilateral recognition of pest free areas) a nd the multilateral recognition of pest free 
areas.  It was also noted that the issue of regionalization was addressed in several 
ISPMs and draft ISPMs, and that the new draft revised ISPM No.1 proposed new language covering undue delays. 
The SPTA recognized that further action was re quired to meet the concerns raised in 
the SPS Committee and it recommended that the general role of the IPPC with regard 
to regionalization and administrative delays  should be discussed by an open-ended 
working group during ICPM-7.  Discussion papers for this working group would be developed by the Bureau and the Secretariat.  The discussion papers would include the issues related to the SPS Committee and the experience of OIE on the recognition of 
disease free areas.  Representatives of OIE a nd SPS will be invited to present their 
views or prospective of their respective organizations during the ICPM plenary, and 
will also be invited to participat e in the open-ended working group." G/SPS/GEN/529 
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 Some Articles of direct relevance to Regionalization in the Convention text 
 
4. Preamble:  The contracting parties recognize " the necessity for international cooperation in 
controlling pests of plants and plant products a nd in preventing their international spread, and 
especially their introduction into endangered areas;" 
5. Article 1 of the IPPC provides the purpose of the Convention: 
 "With the purpose of securing common and e ffective action to prevent the spread and 
introduction of pests of plants and plant produc ts, and to promote appropriate measures for 
their control, the contracting parties underta ke to adopt the legislative, technical and 
administrative measures specified in this Convention ...".  
 
 With:  "Introduction" - the entry of a pest resulting in its establishment; 
  "Establishment" - perpetuation, for the foreseeable future, of a pest within an area after entry;  
and 
  "Endangered area" - an area where ecological f actors favour the establishment of a pest whose 
presence in the area will result in economically important loss. 
 
6. Article IV of the Convention recognizes the responsibilities of the Contracting Parties: 
"1. Each contracting party shall make provision,  to the best of its ability, for an official 
national plant protection organization with the main responsibilities set out in this 
Article";  
2. The responsibilities of an official na tional plant protection organization shall 
include:" 
(e) the protection of endangered areas and the designation, maintenance and 
surveillance of pest free areas a nd areas of low pest prevalence". 
7. Article VII, "Requirements in relation to imports," provides among other for: 
"2. In order to minimize interference with inte rnational trade, each contracting party, in 
exercising its authority under paragraph 1 of this Article, undertakes to act in conformity with the following:" 
(e) Any inspection or other phytosanitary procedure required by the plant 
protection organization of a contracti ng party for a consignment of plants, 
plant products or other regulated articles offered for importation, shall take 
place as promptly as possible with due  regard to their perishability." 
(h) Contracting parties shall, as cond itions change, and as new facts become 
available, ensure that phytosanitary measures are promptly modified or 
removed if found to be unnecessary." 
Some Relevant Standards on Phytosanitary Measures 
 8. Most standards have relevance to Regionaliza tion.  Some of the more important are:  G/SPS/GEN/529 
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  ISPM # 1:  "Principles of plant quarantine" 
 
9. This ISPM in the revision process.  In the draft text: 
Timeliness  is covered as in the Convention Article V II paragraph 2, sub-pa ragraph (e);  and  
Modification  is covered as in the Convention Article  VII paragraph 2, sub-paragraph (h). 
 
10. A new principle is proposed called Administrative delays :  
Draft text: [When a contracting party requests an other contracting party to establish or modify 
phytosanitary import requirements, this request should be considered without undue delay.  
Requirements, including related actions involved in the development of these requirements, should be 
performed, established or modified, as appropriate, also without undue  administrative delay.  Related 
actions include, but are not limited to, Pest Risk An alysis, the recognition of pest free areas or the 
recognition of equivalence.] 
 ISPM # 04:  Requirements for the establishment of Pest Free Areas  
 
11. This standard describes the requirements for the establishment and use of pest free areas 
(PFAs) as a risk management option for phytosanitary  certification of plants and plant products and 
other regulated articles exported from the PFA or  to support the scientific justification for 
phytosanitary measures taken by an importing country for protection of an endangered PFA. 
 ISPM # 06:  Guidelines for surveillance  
 12. This standard describes the components of survey and monitoring systems for the purpose of pest 
detection and the supply of information for use in pest risk analyses, the establishment of pest free areas and, where appropriate, the preparation of pest lists. 
 ISPM # 08:  Determination of pest status in an area  
 
13. This standard describes the content of a pest record and the use of pest records and other 
information in the determination of pest status in a given area.  It defines categories of pest status and 
makes recommendations on reporting practices. 
 ISPM # 09:  Guidelines for pest eradication programmes 
 
14. This standard describes the components of a pe st eradication programme which can lead to the 
establishment or re-establishment of pest absence in an area. 
ISPM # 10:  Requirements for the establishmen t of pest free places of production and 
pest free production sites 
 
15. This standard describes the requirements for the establishment and use of pest free places of 
production and pest free production sites as risk  management options for meeting phytosanitary 
requirements for the import of plants, plant products an d other regulated articles. 
 ISPM # 17:  Pest reporting 
 
16. This standard describes the responsibilities of and requirements for contracting parties in 
reporting the occurrence, outbreak and spread of pests in areas for which they are responsible.  It also 
provides guidance on reporting successful eradication of pests and establishment of Pest Free Areas.   G/SPS/GEN/529 
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  Draft Standard in Country Consultation 
 
17. The standard " Requirements for the establishment, ma intenance and verification of areas 
of low pest prevalence"  was sent out for country consultation in June.  Comments on the standard 
will be considered in November by the Standard Committee.  If satisfactory, the Standard will be 
submitted to the Interim Commission for consideration and adoption. 
18. The standard describes the requirements for the establishment, maintenance, verification and 
use of areas of low pest prevalence (ALPP) for regul ated pests.  An ALPP may be used in conjunction 
with other phytosanitary measures. 
Technical panels 
 19. The ICPM at its sixth session in April 2004 est ablished a fast track procedure for certain 
standards which included the establishment of technical panels. 
20. In order to establish the technical requirements for the recognition of fruit flies pest free areas 
and systems approaches, a panel of fruit fly expert s was established to review scientific and technical 
data. 
21. The task of this panel include: 
• Identify the most important fruit fl y pest species for priority work. 
• Identify case studies that could act as good exampl es for establishment of pest free areas and 
systems approaches for fruit flies. 
• Develop standardized procedures by fruit fly sp ecies to establish fruit flies pest free areas and 
systems approaches, including collection of ade quate information, surveys, detection and 
identification techniques, emergency measures to protect free areas and maintain systems 
approaches, evaluation, approval, and suspensi on procedures for fruit flies pest free areas. 
• Develop a process, identify criteria needed, set up a protocol and define an evaluation method for 
the submission of research information. 
• Establish the technical requirements for the rec ognition of fruit flies pest free areas and systems 
approaches, taking into account adequate biologi cal and climatic parameters, applicability and 
recognition requirements. 
• Develop a procedure to consult with international specialists to exchange information about fruit 
flies.  
• Identify measures to be integrated in systems approaches for different species of fruit flies. 
• Analyse the feasibility of the measures recomme nded and evaluate the cost/benefit of the 
measures, their technical justification and th eir relationship with the identified risk.  
• Consider the relationship between the draft doc uments proposed and currently approved ISPMs 
relevant for this subject. 
• Determine measures to be integrated in systems approaches for different species of fruit flies, 
considering the feasibility of the measures recommend ed and selecting the least trade restrictive;  
and   
• Submit draft standards to the Standard Committe e including, where appropriate, for fast-track 
approval.  
 
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