Posted on Fri, 19 Dec 2025, 07:30

Deadline on Fri, 30 Jan 2026, 23:59

Background

The Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM), at its nineteenth session (CPM-19, 2025), approved the establishment of the Steering Group of the Pest Outbreak Alert and Response System (POARS) to provide strategic oversight and guidance for the implementation of POARS.

POARS is a mechanism that identifies emerging pests of global concern before they escalate. It issues global pest alerts, drawing on horizon scanning and pest reporting under National Reporting Obligations (NROs), to support early situational awareness. POARS also promotes harmonized technical approaches and common reference materials that support consistency and a shared technical understanding across countries, fostering early coordination and collective action to strengthen prevention, preparedness, and response measures against emerging pests that can rapidly scale beyond national borders.

As part of the IPPC Strategic Framework 2020–2030, POARS is one of eight Development Agenda Items aimed at strengthening prevention, preparedness, and response for emerging pests of global concern. The IPPC Secretariat shares POARS Pest Alerts and related technical information through a dedicated webpage on the International Phytosanitary Portal (IPP).

The Terms of Reference (ToRs) for the Steering Group are available here.

Purpose of the call

The IPPC Secretariat invites National and Regional Plant Protection Organizations (NPPOs/RPPOs) to nominate qualified experts to serve as members of the POARS Steering Group for a duration of three years.

Composition of the Steering Group

The POARS Steering Group will be composed of up to ten members, as follows:

• One expert from an RPPO
• Up to seven experts from NPPOs aiming for broad geographical representation (ideally one per FAO region)
• One representative from the Implementation and Capacity Development Committee (IC)
• One representative from the Standards Committee (SC)

Expert profile and selection criteria

As outlined in the approved Terms of Reference, nominees should demonstrate:

• Active engagement in existing global and/or regional pest alert and response frameworks
• Experience in designing, managing, or coordinating pest alert and response systems
• Experience in pest risk assessment and/or pest risk management
• Familiarity with international and regional plant protection organizations and with government and private institutions engaged in plant health and phytosanitary matters

Expected involvement of Steering Group members

Participation in the POARS Steering Group is ad honorem. Nominating institutions are expected to ensure that nominated experts have sufficient time and institutional support to contribute effectively.

Steering Group members are expected to:

• Participate in virtual meetings and contribute to the group’s work as required, in line with the workplan and priorities agreed by the Steering Group
• Contribute to strategic discussions, reviews, and decision-making related to POARS implementation
• Provide strategic and technical advice on POARS implementation, priorities, and outputs.
• Potentially attend one in-person meeting within the first 12 months of the Steering Group’s establishment, subject to available resources

The time commitment is expected to be moderate and variable, estimated at approximately 2-3 effective days per month, including participation in virtual meetings and intersessional contributions as required. All meetings and working sessions will be conducted in English.

The Steering Group will be established for an initial term of three years, with work expected to commence by February/March 2026.

Instructions for submitting nominations

NPPO and RPPO nominations are accepted only when submitted by the OCP and copied to the Head of the respective organization.

The following documents must accompany each nomination sent by email to the IPPC Secretariat:

1. Nominee details and summary of expertise form - All sections should be completed, including contact details, education and professional training. The file should be named as follows: COUNTRY_SURNAME_Firstname_nominee_form.

2. Completed and signed Statement of Commitment form - this should be read carefully by each nominee and then discussed with their employer. The form should be signed by the nominee and a senior person from the organization that employs the nominee and submitted with the nomination (as a scanned image file such as PDF).The file should be named as follows: COUNTRY_SURNAME_Firstname_commitment.

3. The nominee’s Curriculum Vitae (CV) - an electronic copy of the nominee’s CV (as a word processing file such as MS Word) with the file named as follows: COUNTRY_SURNAME_Firstname_CV.

All nominations should be sent to the IPPC Secretariat ([email protected]) with a copy to [email protected] by 30 January 2026.