G/SPS/GEN/1601  
 
8 February 2018  
(18-0870) Page: 1/4 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
 
REPORT OF THE  INTERNATIONAL PLANT PROTECTION  
CONVENTION SECRETARI AT (IPPC)  
The followi ng communication, received on 7 February  2018, is being circulated at the request of 
the International Plant Protection Convention secretariat  (IPPC).  
 
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The year 2017 marked a milestone in the IPPC’s history1 with the 65th anniversary of the 
Convention. The IPPC focused efforts on the thematic year of "Plant Health and Trade Facilitation " 
set by the phytosanitary community. This report provides an overvie w of the main IPPC Secretariat 
activities in 2017.  
1  DISSEMINATING THE 20 17 IPPC ANNUAL THEME  "PLANT HEALTH AND TRA DE 
FACILITATION " 
1.1.  The IPPC Secretariat organized and delivered two IPPC seminars on plant health and trade 
facilitation at FAO -HQ in addition to  those already reported to the SPS committee meeting:  
 The World Trade Organization (WTO), Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF), 
the World Bank (WB) and FAO presented their perspective on plant health and trade 
facilitation, experiences and lesso ns learned;  
 Plant health standards and safe trade facilitation seminar highlighted experiences from the 
NPPOs of Malawi and Japan.  
2  PROMOTING IPPC GOVER NING BODIES, STRATEG IES AND RELATED ISSU ES  
2.1  The IPPC CPM subsidiary body "Implementation and Capacity Dev elopment 
Committee (IC) " 
2.1.  The new IPPC CPM subsidiary body "Implementation and Capacity Development Committee 
(IC)" was established based on the decision of CPM 12 (2017) reflecting the need to strengthen 
efforts to implement the IPPC and International Stan dards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs) and 
develop the capacities o f contracting parties to do so.  
2.2.  The establishment of the IC is significant in the history of the IPPC. The IC, under the 
guidance of the CPM, will provide technical oversight of IPPC acti vities to enhance the capacities of 
contracting parties to implement the IPPC and ISPMs and meet the strategic objectives agreed by 
the CPM through: (i) identifying and reviewing the baseline capacity and capability required by 
contracting parties to imple ment the IPPC; (ii) analyzing issues constraining the effective 
implementation of the IPPC and developing innovative way s to address impediments; 
(iii) developing and facilitating delivery of an implementation support programme to enable 
contracting partie s to meet and surpass baseline capacity and capability levels; (iv) monitoring 
and evaluating the efficacy and impact of implementation activities and reporting on progress 
which indicates the State of Plant Protection in the World; (v) overseeing dispute avoidance and 
                                                
1 The IPPC - https://www.ippc.int/en/who -we-are/. G/SPS/GEN/1601  
 
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  settlement processes; and (vi) overseeing national reporting obligation processes as per its Terms 
of Reference and Rules of Procedure2. 
2.2  The Focus Group (FG) on developing joint criteria for the Call for Topics: "Standards 
and Implementation"  
2.3.  A FG was established to review the process for the Call for Topics for Standards to include a 
call for to pics for implementation issues.  
2.4.  The FG met in October 2017, FAO Headquarters, Rome Italy. The FG agreed on the title, 
process, and criteria of the cal l and agreed on the establishment of a Task Force on Topics to 
review the submissions for topics and to provide relevant recommendations (including proposed 
priorities) to both the SC and the IC. The proposed Call for Topics: Standards and Implementation 
should be under the remit of the SC and IC respectively.  
2.5.  The outcomes of the FG meeting are to be presented to the CPM -13 (2018) for further 
discussions.  
3  STRENGTHENING STANDA RDS SETTING  
3.1.  In 2017 a record number of standards (22) were adopted, including five ISPMs, ten 
Phytosanitary Treatments (PTs) and seven Diagnostic Protocols (DPs). In July, two consultations 
were carried out: one on 13 draft ISPMs and one on three draft Specifications as well as a DP 
notification period.  
3.2.  An expert working group on the Rev ision of ISPM 8 Determination of pest status in an area  
(2009 -005) met in September an d produced a revised standard. The Technical Panel on the 
Glossary also met in December 2017 to review draft ISPMs for consistency and reviewed specific 
terms. Output fro m these meetings along with two additional draft ISPMs will be su bmitted to the 
SC in May 2018.  
3.3.  The Standards Committee met in November 2018. It recommended two draft ISPMs to 
CPM-13 (2018) and agreed to the reorganization of the suite of fruit fly standar ds as well as had 
an in depth discussion on commodity standards and will be seeking guidance from CPM -13 (2018) 
on how to progress on this issue.  
4  IMPLEMENTATION AND C APACITY DEVELOP MENT  
4.1  PCE application  
4.1.  The IPPC Secretariat facilitated the application of Phytosanitary Capacity Evaluation PCE) in 
ten countries (Barbados, Botswana, Georgia, Guinea, Kenya, Uzbekistan, Madagascar, Namibia, 
Somalia and Zambia) through different projects to develop national cap acity development 
strategies and action plans and review phytosanitary legislation in place in accordance with the 
project goals. The availability of the national capacity development strategy and action plan to 
address gaps in the phytosanitary system of a country positions countries well for taking 
advantage of funding opportunities at the national and/or international level and helps 
international organizations and donors to understand countries needs and to focus resources on 
the identified priorities.  
4.2  IPPC Guides on Pest F ree Area and Risk Communication  
4.2.  The IPPC is working on the production of guides on Pest Free Areas and Pest Risk 
Communication with the involvement of phytosanitary experts from several FAO regions. The 
development of these technical resources is driven by gaps identified through the IPPC IRSS 
General Surveys of 2012 -2013 and 2016, as well as the IPPC Framework for  Standards and 
Implementation.  
                                                
2 Terms of Reference and Rules of Procedures of the IC - https://www.ippc.int/en/core -
activities/capacity -development/implementation -and-capacity -development -committee -ic/. G/SPS/GEN/1601  
 
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  5  PROMOTING TRADE FACI LITATION  
5.1  ePhyto  
5.1.  The IPPC Secretariat finalized the requirements for dep loyment of the IPPC ePhyto hub and 
the generic ePhyto national system (GeNS), and started the testing and demonstration of both 
IPPC ePhyto solutions.  
5.2  eCommerce  
5.2.  The IPPC Secretariat is also initializing a work plan on eCommerce in the framework of the 
Trade Facilitation Agreement that involves collaboration with the World Custom Organization 
(WCO).  
5.3  Sea Containers Task Force  
5.3.  The first meeting of the Sea Containers Task Force (SCTF) was held in November 2017, in 
Shanghai, China.  
5.4.  The main outcomes of the meet ing are the development of the IPPC SCTF Five -Year Action 
Plan and Work plan for 2018 to guide implementation of the Sea Container Complementary Action 
Plan for Assessing and Managing the Pest Threats Associated with Sea Containers. The SCTF and 
Complement ary Action Plan aim to reduce the pest risks associated with sea containers and 
measure the impact of the IMO/ILO/UNECE3 Code of Practice for Packing of Cargo Transport Units 
(CTU Code) during the next five years, as well as to increase awareness of pest r isks of sea 
containers and information to assist NPPO s better manage these risks.  
6  STRENGTHENING COMMUN ICATION AND ADVOCACY  
6.1.  The IPPC Secretariat collaborated in 2017 with United Nations Environment Programme 
(UNEP), within the UN Environment Multilateral En vironment Agreements Knowledge Management 
Initiative, on the creation of an e -learning course "Introduction to the International Plant 
Protection Convention ". The course is available on the InforMEA e -learning platform.4 
6.2.  This newly created two -hour course is free of charge. The course is comprised of four 
lessons; each lesson includes an interactive module, additional materials and a pdf hand -out. The 
core content of these lessons is complemented with videos, publications and other web resources. 
This cours e was created for learners without any prior knowledge of the IPPC, such as new 
employees of NPPOs, governmental officials, scientists, journalists, etc. and can be useful in 
preparations to the International Year of Plant Health 2020. Upon successful comp letion of the 
course, participants receive a certificate of completion.  
6.3.  The IPPC Secretariat has also been working on an e -learning course on National Reporting 
Obligations for IPPC contact points and their editors that should be made available this year.  
6.1  The International Year of Plant Health (IYPH)  
6.4.  The third meeting of the IPPC International Year of Plant Health Steering Committee 
(IPPC  IYPH StC) was held November 2017, at FAO Headquarters, Rome Italy. The steering 
committee progressed substantively on th e IYPH communications work plan and the IYPH 
programme development.  Governments are encouraged to support the proposal by Finland to 
declare 2020 as the International Year of Plant Health when it is presented at the 2018 meeting of 
the UN General Assembly . 
                                                
3 IMO – International Maritime Organization; ILO - International Labour Organization; UNECE - The 
United Nations Economic  Commission for Europe.  
4 eLearning course Introduction to the International Plant Protection Convention -: https://e -
learning.informea.org/course/view.php?id=43 . G/SPS/GEN/1601  
 
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  7  THE YEAR AHEAD  
7.1.  The year 2018 will be another important year for the IPPC, as it will be the year for 
implementation of the next IPPC annual theme "Plant Health and Environment Protection " towards 
2020. Among the many tasks and activities planned for 2018 , five are key:  
 Advocate  the IPPC annual theme "Plant Health and Environment Protection "; 
 Promote  IPPC strategic planning for 2020 -2030; 
 Promote  the implementation of the IPPC trade facilitation action plan, and the adoption of 
the IPPC ePhyto platform ; 
 Endorse  the IYPH resolut ion by UN General Assembly; and  
 Enhance  the IPPC network at regional and national levels, and the international 
cooperation with relevant technical, trade, environment and industry organizations.  
7.2.  The IPPC Secretariat would like to t ake this opportunity to express its sincere gratitude to the 
WTO-SPS Secretariat for the strong support and close cooperation.  
 
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