Joint IPPC/ePhyto Industry Advisory Group workshop continues for Dominican Republic

Rome, 4 May 2021. Representatives of the National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO), the ePhyto Industry Advisory Group (IAG) and the IPPC Secretariat held a workshop on the development of the IPPC ePhyto Solution in the Dominican Republic. The workshop, the second of several planned to take place this year was extremely successful with an attendance of more than 380 participants from government, the private sector and members of Trade Associations for Grains, Seed and Cocoa Federation.

The workshop included a number of presentations on the IPPC ePhyto Solution as well as a review of the efforts the Dominican Republic is making to ensure implementation of the IPPC ePhyto Solution is a success. They have so far sent more than 460 test certificates to the USA and are working closely with other NPPOs including Argentina to move forward with their implementation.

The Dominican Republic was complementary of the opportunities that the IPPC ePhyto Solution represents for facilitating trade in plants and plant products. They highlighted that they have already held a number of in-country trainings and explanatory meetings, with emphasis on informing and training phytosanitary certificate users such as customs authorities, importers, exporters and brokers. Mr. Manuel Duran, Deputy Director of Plant Quarantine at the Ministry of Agriculture (DSV) stated, “we at DSV as well as trade associations, corporate sector, port operators, customs brokers, members of Organismo Internacional Regional de Sanidad Agropecuaria (OIRSA), considered this workshop critical to continuing the work of implementing ePhyto in the country”.

The IAG with support from the IPPC Secretariat is planning to continue hosting similar workshops between NPPOs and industry groups throughout 2021 to enhance communication and collaborations on the implementation of the IPPC ePhyto Solution.

To find out more on the IPPC ePhyto Solution please visit: www.ephytoexchange.org