CPM Bureau reviews IPPC progress and plans to advance global plant health

Rome, 22 June 2023. The Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM) Bureau met last week to review the decisions and recommendations made at the seventeenth session of the CPM (CPM-17) held in March this year, vis- à-vis the ongoing IPPC work programme. The IPPC Secretariat welcomed the newly elected CPM Bureau, including its Chairperson, Gregory Wolff (Canada) and members: Jan Hendrick (South Africa), Mamoru Matsui (Japan), Sam Bishop (United Kingdom), Diego Quiroga (Argentina), Ahmed Kamal (Egypt) and Gabrielle Vivian-Smith (Australia).

IPPC Secretary Osama El-Lissy presented an overview of the Secretariat’s core work and new initiatives that will support the achievement of the IPPC’s strategic objectives, as contained in the Strategic Framework. Currently under development, these initiatives include the Global Phytosanitary Programme, the Global Trade Support Team and the IPPC Centre of Excellence.

Three draft standards approved by the Standards Committee for first consultation were presented to the Bureau, as well as the draft revised ISPM 4 Requirements for the establishment of pest free areas, which the committee recommends for adoption at CPM-18 in 2024. Additionally, the Bureau invited the Steering Group on Pest Outbreak Alert and Response Systems to develop a working definition of “emerging pest.”

To facilitate implementation of the convention, standards and CPM recommendations, the Bureau noted the ongoing Secretariat activities in promoting IPPC guides, training materials and e-learning courses. To enhance the uptake of the phytosanitary capacity evaluation (PCE) tool, the Bureau requested the Secretariat to engage FAO so that relevant official IPPC contact points are copied in any correspondence to ministers, regarding PCEs.

Following CPM-17 decisions on ePhyto funding, the Bureau discussed a provisional funding model developed by the CPM Focus Group on Sustainable Funding of the ePhyto Solution. The model assumed certain baseline funding from FAO and donors, with the rest being drawn from a combination of a fixed fee and a usage fee. The Bureau recommended that the Focus Group present its revised options for sustainable funding to the Strategic Planning Group which will meet in October. It also agreed that the funding options and procedures be presented at CPM-18 in April 2024, for approval.

Other agenda items included updates on the IPPC Communications Strategy, the financial committee, preparations for the International workshop on pest risk mitigation of sea containers and the facilitation of international trade, to be held from 17-19 July in Australia and progress of the Africa Phytosanitary Programme (APP). APP is the first stage in the IPPC’s Global Phytosanitary Programme that is envisioned to empower national plant protection organizations (NPPOs) to detect and manage pests in an effective and timely way, build capacity of plant health officers to protect agriculture and natural resources and facilitate safe trade.

Finally, the Bureau confirmed that focusing on the implementation of the IPPC’s Strategic Framework will be a core part of its ongoing work. In this regard, the Strategic Framework will be a key component of the agenda for various meetings including IPPC Regional Workshops in August and September, the Strategic Planning Group meetings in October and, of course, for the 18th session of the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures.

The Bureau concluded its meeting by adopting the decision points of the weeklong meeting. The report will be available soon via the IPPC website here.

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