IPPC Secretary, CPM Chair reflect on key progress towards IPPC’s mission

Rome, 28 March 2023. As the seventeenth session of the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM-17) opened yesterday, the Secretary of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) Osama El-Lissy and CPM Chairperson Lucien Kouame Konan shared their thoughts on the state of global plant health. At CPM-17, the CPM Bureau, the IPPC Secretariat and subsidiary bodies presented their key achievements in 2022, in line with the IPPC Strategic Framework 2020-2030.

“Everyone's efforts over the past year have resulted in progressing the work on phytosanitary standards among which are finalized and will be submitted for adoption here at CPM-17”, said Konan. The CPM Bureau, subsidiary bodies, committees, focus groups, technical panels and expert working groups continued to implement their work programs, meeting mostly in virtual mode in the past year to continue advancing the IPPC’s mission.

“I hope that we have definitely passed the pandemic milestone and that 2023 will be the pivotal year when the activities of the CPM return to normalcy to better advance the priorities and objectives of the Convention”, Konan said.

IPPC Secretary Osama El-Lissy stated, “I would like to commend the CPM Bureau for their strong leadership that ensured that IPPC’s work continued despite the limitations from the COVID-19 pandemic”.

Progress and milestones in protecting plant health

In 2022, the IPPC reached two milestones that marked the global importance of plant health. One, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the International Day of Plant Health slated annually on 12 May. The Day was championed by Zambia, with advocacy efforts led by the governments of contracting parties and partner organizations, and co-signed by Bolivia, Finland, Pakistan, the Philippines and Tanzania.

Two, the IPPC Secretariat successfully organized the first International Plant Health Conference attended in person by more than 500 plant health experts from 74 countries. The conference was co-organized with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

“At CPM-17, one new international plant health standard and important modifications in three others were adopted. Recently, the IPPC published two new guides on emergency preparedness and on the banana disease, fusarium Tropical Race 4. Additionally, we launched four e-learning courses to better build the capacity of national plant protection organizations”, El-Lissy shared.

“I am pleased to report that the IPPC ePhyto Solution has reached a new milestone. Three million ePhyto certificates have been exchanged since its pilot in 2017. A total of 116 countries are on the system, 72 of which are using the system to full capacity. This proves that innovation can make trade safer, faster and more cost-effective”, he added.

The IPPC Secretary thanked Canada, China, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Republic of Korea, the European Union, the United States, FAO and the World Bank for their financial and collective in-kind contributions to IPPC. “We thank you for continuously trusting the IPPC to deliver what we have promised”, he said.

Related information

2022 IPPC Annual Report