81^st Meeting of the Panel on Global Phytosanitary Affairs

Paris, 2022-04-19/20

The April 2022 meeting of the EPPO Panel on Global Phytosanitary Affairs was organized in Paris on 2022-04-19/20. The meeting focussed on the review of the draft Standards, which were for consultation amongst the members of the Standards Committee (SC). The Panel studied the drafts in order to provide inputs from the EPPO region to European SC members. Discussions focussed on the following drafts which may be shared by the IPPC Secretariat for the first round of consultation in July 2022:

• 2022 Amendments to ISPM 5 Glossary of phytosanitary terms
• Annex to ISPM 38 on the design and use of systems approaches for phytosanitary certification of seeds
• Annex to ISPM 37 on criteria for determining host status of fruit to fruit flies based on available information

The Panel members also studied the drafts ISPMs which will be considered by the SC for approval for the second round of consultation:

• 2021 Amendments to ISPM 5 Glossary of phytosanitary terms
• Annex to ISPM 20 on the use of specific import authorizations
• Revision of ISPM 4 Requirements for the establishment of pest free areas
• Revision of ISPM 18 Requirements for the use of irradiation as a phytosanitary measure

The Panel members were updated on recent IPPC discussions, including those of the CPM Bureau, the Implementation and Capacity Development Committee (IC) and the Technical Consultation (TC) among RPPOs. The Panel also evaluated the 16th session of the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM-16 ) that was organized as a series of teleconference on 2022-04-05, 07 and on 2022-04-21 and the Panel appreciated its outcomes. They, however, were looking forward to the next CPM being held physically because interactions among delegations and parallel discussions can take place more effectively.

The Panel discussed the progress of a number of strategic issues, including the preparation of IPPC Commodity Standards, Sea Containers, ePhyto and eCommerce. They also considered the outcomes of the ongoing discussions of the CPM Focus Groups for ‘Pest Outbreak Alert and Response System’, ‘Implementation of the Strategic Framework’, ‘Climate Change and Phytosanitary Issues’ and ‘Communications’. For the latter, Ms Carson-Taylor (APHA, GB), the European representative in the Focus group, joined the meeting remotely.

The next meeting of the EPPO Panel on Global Phytosanitary Affairs is planned to take place on 2022-09-8/9 in conjunction with the IPPC/FAO Regional Workshop for Europe and Central Asia to be held on 2022-09-05/07 both in Baku and in Paris, at the same time, with a video connection between the two locations.