Latin American Region successfully concluded its 2022 IPPC Regional Workshop

Rome, 21 October 2022. The 2022 IPPC Regional Workshop (RW) for Latin America was conducted from August 29 to September 1, 2022, in Lima, Peru, hosted by the General Secretariat of the Andean Community as one of the three regional plant protection organizations (RPPOs) in Latin America. The workshop was conducted in hybrid mode, with 30 participants attending in person and 50 participants virtually.

The workshop was co-organized by the IPPC Secretariat and the three RPPOs from Latin America, namely, the Plant Health Committee of the Southern Cone (COSAVE for its acronym in Spanish), the Andean Community (CAN for its acronym in Spanish), the Regional International Organization for Plant Protection and Animal Health (OIRSA for its acronym in Spanish); the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the FAO office for Mesoamerica.

''Despite all the present difficulties, our resilience to change has not prevented us from looking ahead to innovations that are transforming plant health today,'' said IPPC Secretary Osama El-Lissy in his opening remarks.

''Innovative plant health methods along with preventative international phytosanitary standards are key to avoiding costly eradication and control responses to emergency pest outbreaks throughout all regions of the globe,'' he added.

Javier Trujillo, Bureau member for Latin America and the Caribbean, explained the 2021-2022 IPPC achievements including the CMP-16, and summarized the decisions adopted. He noted the work done by the Bureau and the Strategic Planning Group (SPG). Updates on IPPC activities were shared with participants, including the Standards Committee (SC) and the Implementation and Capacity Development Committee (IC). IC members Magda Gonzales and Francisco Gutierrez shared the latest information on National Reporting Obligations and the Phytosanitary Capacity Evaluations (PCEs), as well as the transition of the IPPC Implementation and Review Support System (IRSS) to the IPPC observatory. The IPPC Secretariat shared information on activities on e-commerce, Pest Outbreak Alert Response Systems (POARS), emerging pests, and the procedure to develop guides and training materials.

Participants discussed six draft ISPMs foreseen for the 2022 Regional Workshop, while the Standards Committee representatives provided an outline of the draft standards. As a result, participants discussed the draft ISPMS and agreed on regional comments shared in the Online Comment System to be submitted to the IPPC Secretariat.

The three RPPOs from Latin America along with IICA and FAO Mesoamerica provided updates on their respective plant health activities. Following the annual theme “Innovative Plant Health for Food Security,” topics such as e-Phyto implementation and issues of regional concern, such as Fusarium TR4, locusts, and the African giant snail were discussed.

Participants agreed that the planned objectives and outputs for the regional workshops were achieved. More details on 2022 IPPC RW for Latin America will be published on the International Phytosanitary Portal (IPP).