WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/SPS/GEN/1123 
17 October 2011 
 (11-5101) 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
REPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL PLANT PROTECTION  
CONVENTION SECRETARIAT (IPPC) 
 
Meeting of 19-20 October 2011 
  
 The following communication, received on 13 Octo ber 2011, is being circulated at the request 
of the IPPC secretariat. 
 
_______________ 
 
 
I. INTRODUCTION 
1. This report covers the period July- October 2011. 
2. The Committee is invited to note that as of October 2011, there are 177 contracting parties to 
the IPPC.  
II. STANDARD-SETTING WORK PROGRAMME  
A. FOCUS GROUP ON IMPROVING THE STANDARD SETTING PROCESS  
3. The IPPC secretariat convened a Focus Group for improving the standard setting process.  
The European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO) hosted the meeting in Paris, 
France from 25-29 July 2011.  In addition to re gional representatives, experts from both Codex 
Alimentarius and OIE participated in the meeting.   Best practices for the International Standard 
Setting Bodies (ISSBs) were discussed, which bene fitted all ISSBs, and the Focus Group proposed 
that some of these efficiencies be in corporated into the IPPC process. 
4. The key recommendations from the Focus Group ar e:  that the Commission on Phytosanitary 
Measures (CPM) should no longer draft texts;  ther e should be only one standards setting process, 
with modifications for technical standards;  the CPM should delegate its authority to the Standards 
Committee (SC) to adopt diagnostic protocols on its  behalf;  and a Framew ork for Standards should 
be developed.  In addition, several speci fic recommendations on increasing effectiveness and 
efficiency were made.  The informal working gr oup on Strategic Planning and Technical Assistance 
(SPTA) reviewed the Focus Group’s recommendations  at its meeting in early October 2011 and 
suggested further adjustments (details will be provided in the SPTA meeting report, still under 
development).  The SC will review these recomme ndations and suggestions  in November 2011 and a 
final set of recommendations will be submitted to CPM-7 (2012) in March.  The full Focus Group 
report is posted on the International Phytosanitary Portal (IPP) at https://www.ippc.in t/index.php?i d=207776 . G/SPS/GEN/1123 
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  B. M
EMBER CONSULTATION AND THE ONLINE COMMENT SYSTEM (OCS) 
5. The 2011 member consultation for draft standa rds (100 days) closed on 30 September 2011.  
This was the first year that the secretariat used  the recently developed IPPC Online Comment System 
(OCS).  The secretariat also used the OCS to enter comments during the 2011 Regional Workshops 
for the review of draft International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs), which allowed 
workshop participants to develop comments and share them.  Members could then review the 
workshop comments and accept them as their own or fu rther modify them before submitting them to 
the IPPC secretariat.  The OCS has been well rece ived by the phytosanitary community and over 95 
per cent of the comments received were submitted using the system, which has saved the IPPC 
secretariat valuable resources and has allowed th e comments to be instantly compiled.  Minor 
problems were quickly resolved and user feedback h as been provided to help improve the system.  It 
is hoped that a revised version of the OCS will be  released in time for members to enter their 
substantive comments on the draft standards going to CPM-7 (2012) in March. 
6. Many members and international organizations ha ve also expressed interest in cloning the 
IPPC OCS to be used for their own commenti ng purposes, and the IPPC secretariat has been 
investigating this. 
C. SEA CONTAINERS STANDARD  
7. Work continues on the drafting of a standard on the topic Minimizing pest movement by sea 
containers and conveyances in international trade (S pecification 51).  Experts have worked virtually 
to develop a first draft and those experts who have c ontributed substantially to this draft will be called 
to a small expert working group (EWG) which will be  held in Rome, Italy, 15-17 November 2011.  
D. A NEW LOOK FOR STANDARDS  
8. The IPPC secretariat was requested by the Standards Committee to review the way it 
published ISPMs.  For several years, ISPMs were printed individually and in a book of standards, but in an effort to save resources, the secretariat be gan to only publish the bo ok and individual standards 
on the web.  There were several requests by CPM members to reorganize the standards and align 
previously published standards with newly published standards.  The secretariat has explored several 
ways to accomplish these tasks.  At CPM-5 (2010)  and CPM-6 (2011), ink am endments were noted 
which would help bring the standards in-line for consis tency.  In addition, the format of the standards 
was modernized and publication histories have been added.  The secretariat is in the final stages of 
posting these newly formatted standards which will al so incorporate recent ink amendments.  ISPMs 
will now be published individually in PDF format with the Annexes to ISPM 27:2006 (diagnostic 
protocols) and ISPM 28:2007 (phytosanitary treatments)  published separately.  It is hoped that, in this 
new format, users will be able to quickly combine the ISPMs into books of standards which can be 
tailored to the user’s needs (e.g. a book of fruit fly standards, etc.).  This initial reformatting has been 
initiated for the English versions of the ISPMs, and,  as resources become available, will be applied to 
versions in other official languages. 
E. 2012
 WORK PLAN  
9. The 2012 budget and work plan for standard setti ng has just been approved.  As a result of 
some extra budgetary resources (both funds and in  kind contributions) coming from members, the 
IPPC secretariat is able to restart work on the following technical panels which had been put on hold 
in 2011:  Technical Panel on Diagnostic Protocol s, Technical Panel on the Glossary and Technical 
Panel on Phytosanitary Treatments.   G/SPS/GEN/1123 
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  F. ADOPTED ISPM S 
10. Currently approved International Standards fo r Phytosanitary Measures can be found here:  
"https://www.ippc.int/index.php?id=1110798&fro mpage=13399&tx_publicatio n_pi1[showUid]=2181
813&type=publication&L=0 " 
III. INFORMATION EXCHANGE 
A. CONTACT POINTS  
11. Through 10 October 2011, over 87 per cent of IPPC contact points have updated their 
information at least once.  This means that contr acting parties communicating with other IPPC contact 
points should visit the IPP frequently to ensure  they have the latest contact information. 
B. UNOFFICIAL CONTACT POINTS  
12. The secretariat continues to work with a small nu mber of countries that need to nominate their 
IPPC contact points officially. 
C. INTERNATIONAL PHYTOSANITARY PORTAL (IPP)  - HTTPS ://WWW .IPPC.INT 
13. There continues to be a lot of information be ing made available by countries through the IPP 
and the IPPC secretariat.  Countries are encourag ed to periodically visit the site for updates. 
14. The IPP now provides Russian navigation and the secretariat continue to work with China to 
provide the site with Chinese navigation. 
15. Usage of the IPP continues to increase but it is apparent that this can be improved in certain 
regions and in certain countries.  Internet access/reli ability has a role to play in certain countries, but 
access in many countries is improving. 
16. The site is currently being developed to s ubstantially increase the amount of information 
available to support standard implementation a nd capacity development and the Implementation 
Review and Support System (IRSS) will come on-line in the near future with a functional Help Desk.. 
D. PEST REPORTING  
17. National pest reporting continues to improve  but there is still potential for further 
improvement.  The 2011 reporting year has seen a substantial increase in the number of pest reports.  
The secretariat is working on this information to allow users to access this information in a more 
constructive and analytical manner. 
E. COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY  
18. The IPPC secretariat continues to develop an IPPC communications strategy that is now 
greatly facilitated by agreement in CPM on the IPPC Strategic Objectives.  The 60th Anniversary of 
the IPPC in 2012 will provide an opportunity to increase the visibility and profile of the IPPC, 
particularly in support of the IPPC Resources Mobilization Strategy. 
IV. DISPUTE SETTLEMENT 
19. The phytosanitary trade dispute between South Africa and the European Union is on-going 
and further announcements will be  made as information becomes available and when appropriate. G/SPS/GEN/1123 
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  20. The CPM has recently referred concerns regard ing ISPM implementation to the Subsidiary 
Body on Dispute Settlement (SBDS) for discussion and guidance.  This mechan ism already exists and 
will now be active for the first time. 
21. Given a number of WTO papers on informal discu ssions to resolve trade disputes, the IPPC 
secretariat would like to note the success of such discussions through the IPPC secretariat and FAO in 
the past.  It is believed a number of disputes have b een resolved in this way that before would have 
become formal disputes.  Such "dispute avoida nce" mechanisms are encouraged and the IPPC 
secretariat is available to con tinue facilitating this process. 
V. CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT 
A. C
APACITY DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY AND RELATED ISSUES  
22. The results of the work of the IPPC Expert Working Group on Capacity Development (EWG) 
tasked to review and refine the phytosanitary  capacity development operational plan of the 
Convention, assist the secretariat with developing national phytosanitary capacity, and consider the 
need for a permanent CPM body that  deals with capacity development, were presented to the CPM 
Bureau and IPPC Strategic Planning Group in October 2011. 
23. The reviewed proposal of the operational plan and associated budget for capacity 
development and a full set of doc uments providing an analysis on the possible creation of a CPM 
Subsidiary Body on Capacity Development or  an IPPC Technical Committee on Capacity 
development are going to be provided to the IPPC community for consideration at CPM-7 in 2012. 
24. Following the recommendations of CPM-5 (2010) and the work agreed in the EWG, the 
secretariat is developing a phytosanitary resources pa ge that is going to be able to make available 
databases on projects and activities, a roster of experts, diagnostic protocols, training materials, E-
learning courses, manuals, Standard  Operating Procedures (SOPs), photos and videos appropriate for 
developing the phytosanitary capacity of IPPC member countries. 
25. IPPC contracting parties, Regional Plant Protection Organizations  and International 
Organizations are contributing to this page se nding links and documents to populate the page. 
B. PROJECTS  
26. The secretariat continued its active collaborati on with donor agencies and contracting parties 
in the delivery of technical assistance for capacity  development in projects funded through various 
sources.  In particular, the articulation and su pport to STDF activities has substantially increased. 
27. The number of projects in which the IPPC secret ariat is involved with different levels of 
participation has reached 35 projects of national, re gional and global nature in 2011 and five requests 
for new projects related to the application of the Phytosanitary Capacity Evaluation Tool (PCE) have 
been received and shall be considered for 2012.  Th e IPPC secretariat shall be directly involved in 
2012 in a project to increase the phytosanitary capac ity of ten Central African countries in 2012, in 
relation to their participation in the IPPC activities and in the protection of their food security and safe 
trade. 
C. REGIONAL WORKSHOPS ON DRAFT ISPM S 
28. In 2011, the draft ISPMs were reviewed in the following regions:  G/SPS/GEN/1123 
 Page 5 
 
 
  Region Date  
(2010 Tentative) Venue Organized by Other 
Funding Source 
Africa 13-16 September Libreville, Gabon IAPSC PANSPSO/EU/AU 
Asia 6-10 September Busan City, Rep. of Korea FAO Rep. of Korea/Japan
Caribbean 26 July Bridgetown, Barbados IDB/SPS IDB/SPS 
CIS countries 
and Central Asia 11-15 July Bykovo, Moscow Region FAO-EPPO  FAO 
Latin America 19-23 September San Jose, Costa Rica IICA 
COSAVE 
OIRSA 
IPPC  
Near Eas t 10-14 September Cairo, Egypt FAO  
Pacific 7-14 September Nadi, Fiji SPC Australia  
 
29. After the deadline of 30 September 2011, comment s were presented to the secretariat through 
the OCS.  The secretariat is still analyzing the results  of a survey to worksh op attendees to address the 
association between workshop attendance and particip ation in the standards development process. 
VI. IMPLEMENTATION REVIEW AND SUPPORT SYSTEM (IRSS) 
30. The first year of the IRSS programme has been initiated, with funding support for the first 
year of operation being provided w ith the generous support of the European Union.  The secretariat 
has initiated the following steps toward implementation of the "Help Desk": 
31. The following tools will be available to contracting parties by March 2011: 
 A searchable database of phyto sanitary projects and activities; 
 a roster of phytosanitary experts; 
 availability of a limited number of phytosanitary  technical resources such as manuals, SOPs 
and training kits;  
 a table of donors and criteria for funding 
 32. An IRSS page is also under development whic h will house the help desk.  An additional 
webpage is being created to house a number of resources such as the tools indicated above plus media library and advocacy tools.  The IPPC secretariat welcomes the expression of interest of the European 
Commission to fund an additional two years of the IRSS programme beyond 2011.  
VII. RESOURCE MOBILIZATION 
33. The secretariat would like to thank all those cont racting parties that have contributed to the 
2011 budget of the IPPC.  Although the IPPC work programme has been significantly reduced due to 
resource constraints, support from some member c ountries has been encouraging to ensure the core 
work programme could be delivered.  To this en d we wish to thank Australia, European Union, 
Denmark, the Republic of Korea and the United States of America for their financial contributions in 
2011, that were well supported by many in-kind contri butions from a number of other countries.  A 
full list of in-kind support is made available to CPM each year. 
34. The sustainability of IPPC secretariat, and he nce the work programme of the IPPC, is being 
addressed as a matter of urgency.  The current res ource allocation (financial and human resources) is 
simply not sustainable.  Therefore, the Secretary is giving this his highest priority and has begun 
discussions with the governing body and some partne rs to improve the situation in the foreseeable 
future. G/SPS/GEN/1123 
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  35. The draft IPPC Resource Mobilization Strategy, wh ich will be one of the four strategies on 
primary focus areas, was discussed in the annual meeting of the CPM Informal Working Group on 
Strategic Planning and Technical Assistance (SPTA) in October 2011.  The draft will be revised and 
presented to the CPM7 in March 2012. 
36. The discussions in the SPTA meeting mentioned above also highlighted that the budget for 
2012 would need similar or significant additiona l extra-budgetary resources as 2011.  This includes 
any extra FAO contributions that may be anticipated .  It is essential the IPPC receive regular and 
predictable contributions to allow appropriate planning and delivery of the core IPPC work 
programme i.e. to provide sustainability to the programme.  
37. As the year 2012 will be the 60
th Anniversary of the IPPC, the IPPC secretariat has started 
planning the celebration activities but within the very  limited resources currently available.  This will 
be announced soon for any offers from countries, orga nizations and other stakeh olders to support such 
activities. 
38. The secretariat would welcome any discussions with contracting parties or partner 
organizations that could provide solutions to the curre nt challenges, particularly in the medium to long 
term.  
VIII.  IMPORTANT MILESTONE FOR ELECTRONIC  CERTIFICATION IN THE IPPC 
(EPHYTO) 
39. An Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) on Electronic Certification was held in Seoul, 
Republic of Korea, from 7 to 10 June 2011.  Th e meeting was attended by participants from 27 
countries and two regional plant protection organizations. 
40. An increasing number of countries are converting from paper systems to electronic 
certification systems.  A global ePhyto standard  will greatly facilitate the inter-governmental 
exchange of phytosanitary certificates with improve d security and often large gains in efficiencies.  
Some background information can be found on the IPPC website (https://www.ippc.int/inde x.php?id=1110892&no_cache=1 ). 
41. For most countries this plant health initiative w ill be integrated into their animal health and 
food safety electronic certifications systems.  Particip ants agreed to work together to ultimately agree 
on a global standard for electronic phytosanitary cer tification based on ISPM 12, probably to be called 
ePhyto.  Three working groups have been establis hed to progress this work with the objectives of 
having a draft available by the end of 2011 for field testing. 
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