WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/915 
16 March 2009 
 (09-1298) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
INTERNATIONAL PLANT PROTECTION CONVENTION (IPPC) 
 
Statement at the Meeting of 25-26 February 2009
 
  
 The following communication, received on 3 March 2009, is being circulated at the request of 
the IPPC.
 
 
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Capacity Building
 
 1. The Open Ended Working Group met in Rome 8-12 December 2008 to develop a 
comprehensive phytosanitary capacity building as commissioned by CPM3. Outputs from the meeting 
which will be  submitted to CPM 4 for approval/endorsement, include: 
(a) a draft strategy for phytosanitary capacity building; 
(b) a concept paper on capacity building; 
(c) a draft operational plan; 
(d) a paper on the application of the Paris Pr inciples to improve the effectiveness of 
technical assistance projects;  and 
(e) The possible role and application of a me ntoring system in phytosanitary capacity 
building. 
2. The IPPC wishes to thank its sister organizati ons, the STDF and the many contracting parties 
that contributed discussion papers and/or participated in person at the meeting. 
3. The revised version of the Phytosanitary Capacity Evaluation (PCE) tool was distributed to 
selected professionals for their review in Decembe r.  Comments received will be considered by a 
small informal working group in Rome on 17-27 March 2009. 
4. The IPPC held a PRA workshop in Indonesia for plant health professionals from Indonesia 
and Malaysia during the period 3-14 November 2008.   This was the second workshop of its kind 
organized under the Japan-funded project for capacity building in the ASEAN region. 
5. The IPPC continued its supervision and/or implementation of STDF projects, Technical 
Cooperation Projects  funded by FAO (Cambodia, Indonesia, Mozambique), the biosecurity project in 
Tanzania funded under the One UN pilot funding, and the GCP project for the ASEAN region. G/SPS/GEN/915 
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  6. Upcoming Events:  
(a) The Informal Working Group on PCE will meet in Rome on 17-27 March 2009; 
(b) A PRA workshop will be held in Bangkok , Thailand, 9-21 March 2009, for plant 
health officials from Pakistan, Sr i Lanka, Bangladesh and Thailand; 
(c) The Fourth Session of the Commission on  Phytosanitary Measures (CPM4) is 
scheduled to take place in FAO, Rome during the period 30 March to 3 April 2009;  
and 
(d) A workshop on import regulation and sel ected ISPMs for the Commonwealth of 
Independent States (CIS) is anticipated in June 2009. 
Standard Setting
 
7. Since the last meeting of the SPS Committee,  the Standards Committee met in Brazil in 
November 2008, the Technical Panel on Forest Quar antine met in Chile in December 2008, and the 
Technical Panel on Phytosanitary Treatments met in Japan in January 2009. 
8. The Standards Committee has recommended the fo llowing four draft ISPMs to the CPM for 
adoption in the upcoming session: 
(a) Regulating wood packaging material in in ternational trade (Revision of ISPM 
No. 15); 
(b) Categorization of commodities according to their phytosanitary risk; 
(c) The Glossary of phytosanitary terms (Amendments to ISPM No 5);  and 
(d) Terminology of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in relation to the 
Glossary of phytosanitary terms (proposed supplement to ISPM No 5). 
9. Several draft ISPMs are being presented to the Standards Committee in May.  However 
because of limited capacity in the Secretariat and in some member countries it is anticipated that the 
equivalent of five draft standards will be sent out for members' consultation. 
10. Although some members have been and are ki ndly providing short term staff (less than one 
year contracts) to assist the Secretariat in vi ew of its limited human capacity, sustainable staff 
resources remains an urgent issue. 
Information Exchange  
 11. The IPPC now has 170 Contracting Parties, with  three additional countries currently engaged 
in the process of ratification. 
12. The IPPC website is being re-designed.  It is anticipated that a protot ype will be ready for 
demonstration to CPM4. 
13. The on-line system for the submission of comments from Contracting Parties on draft ISPMs 
is currently being revised and should be ready fo r use during the member consultation phase of the 
standard setting process.  G/SPS/GEN/915 
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  Other Matters  
 14. The vacancy announcement for a full-time Secr etary for the IPPC closed on 9 February. 
15. A vacancy announcement for a standards implemen tation officer has been posted on the IPPC 
website. 
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