Blog: Setting standards for plant health: Looking back and planning ahead

*By Sophie Peterson, Chair, IPPC Standards Committee *

In November 2022, the Standards Committee (SC) held a hybrid meeting, the first face-to-face meeting since the year prior. Although the group made significant progress in its work, through virtual meetings held in 2020 and 2021, it was such a relief to be able to travel, meet in person, re-establish connections and meet some of our new members in-person for the first time. In-person meetings also allowed for much longer and deeper discussions on draft texts, which only served to improve them. I think we all hope this can continue from now on.

Ordinarily, in preparation for the meeting of the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM), the SC organizes a meeting in November to focus on any draft International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs) that have been through two rounds of consultation, assessing their readiness for submission and eventual adoption. This time, the SC agreed to recommend the following draft ISPMs, which were finally adopted at the 17th session of the CPM in March 2023.

• Draft 2021 amendments to ISPM 5 (Glossary of phytosanitary terms) (1994-001);
• Draft annex Use of specific import authorizations (2008-006) to ISPM 20 (Guidelines for a phytosanitary import regulatory system);
• Draft revision of ISPM 18 (Requirements for the use of irradiation as a phytosanitary measure) (2014-007); and
• Annex to ISPM 28 Phytosanitary treatments for Pseudococcus jackbeardsleyi, or irradiation treatment to prevent the development of the Jack Beardsleyi mealybug in fruits, vegetables and ornamental plants.

The SC also reviewed the revised ISPM 4: Requirements for the establishment of pest-free areas. It decided that this ISPM and some terms proposed for ISPM 5, needed additional discussion and refinement prior to seeking adoption at CPM-17. Furthermore, we discussed the draft Annex to ISPM 38 related to systems approaches for the international movement of seed, for which this work remains ongoing.

Through the work of the Technical Panel for Commodity Standards (TPCS), the SC approved the draft specification for the international movement of mango fruit. At our first in-person meeting in Japan in January 2023, the Panel discussed the topic and developed the first draft Annex to ISPM 46 Commodity-specific standards for phytosanitary measures. If you missed the Commodity Standards webinar held in February 2022, the recording is available on the IPPC website here.

Other approved specifications that will pave the way for development and revision of ISPMs were:

• Specification 74 (Annex Field inspection (2021-018) to ISPM 23 (Guidelines for inspection)); and
• Specification 75 (Revision of ISPM 26 (Establishment of pest free areas for fruit flies (Tephritidae)) (2021-010).

In May 2023, the Standards Committee met to discuss ISPMs developed and revised by Expert Working Groups in 2022. They agreed on which standards to be focused on during the first and second round of consultations in July 2023. More information from this process will be available on the IPP and will be shared with NPPOs and RPPOs via email. To learn more about the standard setting and consultation process, access a webinar recording from March 2022 here.

I look forward to another year of progress towards the development and revision of ISPMs and working with our colleagues in the IPPC Implementation and Capacity Development Committee (IC) to support contracting parties in their implementation of the Convention and ISPMs.