G/SPS/GEN/1488  
 
13 April 2016  
(16-2061)  Page: 1/2  
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
REPORT OF THE INTERNAT IONAL 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 an d 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 work ing 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 futu re 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 De velopment 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 inpu t 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 2
nd 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 distributi on 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 buildin g 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 member s 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 G/SPS/GEN/1488 
 
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  (https://www.ippc.int/en/iyph/ ), as well as ePhyto efforts (to include additional cooperation 
between CITES and IPPC on simila r 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, Ca nada, the European Union, Finland, France, the 
Republic of Korea, New Zealand, South Africa , Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. 
 
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