WORLD TRADE G/SPS/GEN/32
1October 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-4106)
Original: English Committee onSanitary andPhytosanitary Measures
STATEMENT BYTHE INTERNATIONAL PLANT PROTECTION
CONVENTION (IPPC) ATTHE MEETING OF1-2JULY 1997
Revision oftheIPPC
Therevision oftheIPPC wasrecommended bytheFAO Committee onAgriculture inMay
1995 andwasapproved bytheFAO Conference inNovember 1995. TheFAO Conference decides
onamendment oftheConvention.
Since mid-1995 theIPPC Secretariat hasworked ontherevision oftheConvention. FAO
hasorganized anumber ofrounds ofconsultations withGovernments andRegional Plant Protection
Organizations, including anExpert Consultation, andanIntergovernmental Technical Consultation
which washeldinJanuary 1997. Tocomplete thiswork, theFAOCommittee onAgriculture inApril
established anopen-ended working group which resolved practically alloutstanding issues. Thelast
tworemaining issues werethenresolved attheFAOCouncil inJune1997through aninformal working
group. Asaconsequence, atextremains nowwithout anybrackets andhasbeenrecommended by
theFAO Council foradoption bytheFAO Conference. Thetextwillstillbeconsidered before the
Conference bytheCommittee forConstitution onLegal Matters inOctober 1997. Itsmain taskwill
betoadvise whether there willbeanyadditional obligations. Ifthere were, thiswould haveeffects
onitscoming intoforce. TheSecretariat would, however, propose thatthenewtextrepresents greater
precision andaclarification ofobligations, nonanextension. Furthermore, theplaceandlegalwording
ofonearticle needs tobediscussed.
Themain changes intheConvention:
(i) References havebeenmade totechnical justifications, transparency, andtheavoidance
ofarbitrary orunjustified discrimination ordisguised restriction inSPS.
(ii) Substantialtexthasbeenaddedonthedevelopmentofharmonizedphytosanitarymeasures
andinternational standards. Inanumber ofarticles theprocedure forthedevelopment and
approval ofstandards hasbeen described, including theroleoftheSecretariat andthe
establishment ofaCommission forPhytosanitary Measures.
(iii) InternationalEconomicIntegrationOrganizationsthataremembersofFAOcouldbecome
aparty totheConvention, iftheyhadpartial orfullcompetence inrelation toPhytosanitary
Measures.
(iv) NewwordingforPhytosanitaryCertificatesandtheCertifyingStatementwasdeveloped,
which willmake Certification more reliable. However, itwasrecognized thatfurther work
isrequired onthissubject inthefuture.
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(v) Amajor agreement istheinclusion ofphytosanitary measures forregulated
non-quarantine pests. Thiswillallow theSecretariat tostartwork onStandards forsuchpests;
italsobrings theIPPC inlinewiththemandate oftheSPSinrelation tophytosanitary measures.
(vi) Therevised Convention better defines therelationship withRegional Plant Protection
Organizations.
(vii) Theamended textdescribes International Standards andindicates thattheCommission
onPhytosanitary measures willadopt these. Thiswillreplace thepresent rather cumbersome
procedure which wasestablished bytheFAO Conference during theUruguay Round. The
Commission onPhytosanitary Measures willhavebroad responsibilities inrelation tothe
implementation oftheConvention, including future amendment. TheParties totheConvention
would bethemembers oftheCommission.
(viii) Therevised Convention officially provides foraSecretariat. Thepresent Secretariat
wasestablished byadecision oftheFAO Conference afterarequest oftechnical assistance
bytheDirector-General ofGATT during theUruguay Round.
(ix) Anarticleontechnicalassistancehasbeenaddedwhichhasbecomeimportantinrelation
totheimplementation oftheConvention.
(x) Theobligations oninformation exchange havebeenrationalized andparties arerequired
toestablish acontact point forpurposes oftheimplementation oftheConvention.
Thechanges intheConvention willonlycome intoforce when two-thirds oftheparties have
accepted theamendments. Itshould benoted thatthismaytaketime. Therefore, theFAOSecretariat
willpropose anumber ofinterim measures fortheperiod between theapproval oftheamendments
andtheir implementation after thecoming intoforce oftheamendments. Thiswillinclude the
establishment ofanInterim Commission onPhytosanitary Measures andtheauthorization forthe
Secretariat tostartwork onStandards forregulated non-quarantine pests. Itmayalsobepossible to
startusing therevised phytosanitary certificates onavoluntary basis.
Technical assistance
FAOorganized anAfrican Expert Consultation ontheInternational PlantProtection Convention
on2and3June1997 inRome. Themeeting wasfunded bytheNetherlands. Theobjective ofthe
meeting wastoreview theworkdoneinrevising theIPPC andtodiscuss theimplications oftherevision
oftheIPPC ontheimplementation oftheConvention inAfrica. Information wasprovided ontheSPS
Agreement anditsrelationship totheIPPC, anddiscussions focused ontherelevance ofchanges in
theIPPC. Experts participated fromBurkina Faso, Côted’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar,
Mauritius,Morocco,Niger,Nigeria,Senegal,SouthAfrica,Sudan,Uganda,andZimbabwe.Practically
allexperts were heads ofplant protection orplant quarantine intheirrespective countries.
Theexperts supported thechanges intheIPPC, butwereparticularly concerned about theability
oftheircountries tofulfiltherequirements asoutlined intheConvention. Itwasrecognized thatthere
wasaneedforimproving national infrastructures andpolicy-level awareness tofacilitate international
tradewhileprotectingnationalagriculturefromnewintroductionsthatwouldrequirecostlyinterventions.
Furthermore, there wasastrong feeling thatcooperation atsub-regional andregional levels needed
tobestrengthened inorder tomeettrade requirements atintra- andinter-regional levels.
Indiscussing theIPPC andSPSAgreement, itbecame clearthatitwillbedifficult formost
African countries tomeet theobligations oftheSPSAgreement, although theirGovernments have
made commitments todoso.Infrastructure islacking inmost countries.