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PEST FREE AREAS & AREAS OF LOW PEST PREVALENCE


Article IV. 2 of the IPPC

The responsibilities of an official national plant protection organization shall include the following:
(e) the protection of endangered areas and the designation, maintenance and surveillance of pest free areas and areas of low pest prevalence;

Pest Free Area: An area in which a specific pest is absent as demonstrated by scientific evidence and in which, where appropriate, this condition is being officially maintained [ISPM 2, 1995; revised CPM, 2015] (ISPM5 Glossary of phytosanitary terms)

PFA: Pest free area [ISPM 2, 1995; revised ICPM, 2001] (ISPM5 Glossary of phytosanitary terms)

Pest free place of production: Place of production in which a specific pest is absent as demonstrated by scientific evidence and in which, where appropriate, this condition is being officially maintained for a defined period [ISPM 10, 1999; revised CPM, 2015] (ISPM5 Glossary of phytosanitary terms)

Pest free production site: A production site in which a specific pest is absent, as demonstrated by scientific evidence, and in which, where appropriate, this condition is being officially maintained for a defined period [ISPM 10, 1999; revised CPM, 2015] (ISPM5 Glossary of phytosanitary terms)

Practically free (of a consignment, field, or place of production): Without pests (or a specific pest) in numbers or quantities in excess of those that can be expected to result from, and be consistent with, good cultural and handling practices employed in the production and marketing of the commodity [FAO, 1990; revised FAO, 1995] (ISPM5 Glossary of phytosanitary terms)

Area: An officially defined country, part of a country or all or parts of several countries [FAO, 1990; revised ISPM 2, 1995; CEPM, 1999; based on the World Trade Organization Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (WTO, 1994)] (ISPM5 Glossary of phytosanitary terms)

Area of low pest prevalence: An area, whether all of a country, part of a country, or all or parts of several countries, as identified by the competent authorities, in which a specific pest is present at low levels and which is subject to effective surveillance or control measures [IPPC, 1997; revised CPM, 2015] (ISPM5 Glossary of phytosanitary terms)

IPPC Guides and training materials

  • Guide for Establishing and Maintaining Pest Free Areas (Available in English) This guide is aimed at providing guidance on the establishment and maintenance of pest free areas (PFA), pest free places of production (PFPPs), pest free production sites (PFPSs) and areas of low pest prevalence (ALPPs) as phytosanitary measures to facilitate safe trade and improve the phytosanitary status of a country.
  • e-learning course on Surveillance and reporting obligations (Available in English)
    This e-learning course will introduce key concepts related to pest surveillance, pest status determination and pest reporting, particularly as it relates to new pest detections and emerging pests. It will provide practical guidance to assist NPPOs in strengthening their national surveillance systems and surveillance activities to support early pest detection, pest monitoring and pest status determination. It will also provide specific guidance to help NPPOs to develop a national reporting system for reporting the occurrence, outbreak and spread of pests. 
  • Surveillance Guide (2nd edition) (Available in English and Spanish)
    The International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPM) no. 6 (Surveillance) refers to the components of survey and monitoring systems for the purpose of pest detection and the supply of information for use in pest risk analyses, the establishment of pest free areas and, where appropriate, the preparation of pest lists”. A national plant pest surveillance programme should be conducted in line with this standard to ensure that its results are accurate, credible and contribute to national goals and priorities. This guide addresses aspects of policy and management, which together should outline the rationale for the establishment of a national plant pest surveillance programme.
  • Pest Status Guide (Available in Arabic, English and Spanish)
    This guide describes the steps that national plant protection organizations (NPPOs) should follow when determining the status of a pest in an area, starting with identifying the pest and the area under consideration.
  • Symposium for Pest Free Areas and Surveillance (2019, Japan) (Available in English)

Contributed resources

This web page was last updated on 2023-02-24. For further information please contact [email protected].

ISPM 5 GLOSSARY OF PHYTOSANITARY TERMS

This reference standard is a listing of terms and definitions with specific meaning for phytosanitary systems worldwide. It has been developed to provide a harmonized internationally agreed vocabulary associated with the implementation of the IPPC and ISPMs.

Country information

The country page shows the contact information of the IPPC Official Contact Points of the IPPC Contracting Parties and local contacts of non-Contracting parties and Territories. Under the contact information, it lists the public national reporting obligations which shall be reported by the contracting parties via this Country page. These obligations include reporting of (1)Designation of an Official IPPC Contact Point, (2)Description of the NPPO, (3)Phytosanitary requirements, restrictions & prohibitions, (4)List of entry points, (5)List of regulated pest, (6)Pest report and (7)Emergency action.

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