A Reception on Celebration of the IPPC 65th Anniversary Held in FAO Headquarters

The International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) was established in 1952, and this year is 65th anniversary of the IPPC. On occasion of the annual meeting of the IPPC Strategic Planning Group (SPG) held at FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy, from 10-12 October 2017, the IPPC Secretariat organized a celebratory reception on 11 October.

The reception was officially inaugurated by Ms. Maria Helena Semedo, FAO Deputy Director-General for Climate and Natural Resources, and chaired by Mr. Jingyuan Xia, IPPC Secretary. The event was attended by Mr. Daniel Gustafson (FAO Deputy Director General for programme), Mr. Ren Wang (FAO Assistant Director General for Agriculture and Consumer Protection Department), and Mr. Davide Bradanini (First Secretary of Italian Permanent Representation to FAO), as well as over 100 people, including FAO staff, FAO Permanent Representatives, SPG participants and IPPC Secretariat staff.

In her welcoming address, Ms. Semedo highlighted the importance of the IPPC in relation to food security, safe trade and environment protection. She also pointed out the important work, and challenges facing NPPOs as well as the future impact the IPPC will make as it strengthens its collaborative efforts with the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement, the World Bank, and the Trade and Facilitation component of the WTO. Ms. Semedo concluded her speech by congratulating the CPM and the IPPC for its 65 years of significant contributions towards the betterment of the planet, and looked forward to a continued successful mission of the IPPC.

Mr. Davide Bradanini, in his congratulation remarks, noted Italy s longstanding historical support of the IPPC as one of the first countries to join the IPPC during its establishment. He also stressed Italy s continued commitment towards supporting the mission of the IPPC as well as its support towards a successful International Year of Plant Health (IYPH) in 2020.

The CPM Vice Chairperson and IPPC Contact Point for Mexico, Mr. Javier Trujillo Arriaga, spoke on behalf of the CPM Chair, and conveyed the commitment of national plant protection organizations towards ensuring support to the IPPC mission. Mr. Ralf Lopian, IPPC Contact Point for Finland and Chairperson of the IYPH Initiative highlighted the great vision that the first IPPC signatories had, as well as the importance of cooperation, its inherence to humanity, and towards achieving the mission of the IPPC.

The IPPC invites you to access Twitter snapshots of the 65th Anniversary reception and learn more about the history and significance of the IPPC in the video below!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaeZs576lt0

Photos of the reception are available here.