Taking stock and planning for a responsive IPPC: Update from the CPM Bureau and Strategic Planning Group meetings

Rome, 22 October 2023. The Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM) Bureau and the Strategic Planning Group of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) met in Rome, Italy from 9-13 October 2023 to review progress of ongoing work and planned activities of the IPPC Secretariat in promoting plant health. The two CPM subsidiary bodies reviewed progress on topics such as the IPPC regional workshops, CPM focus groups, global coordination of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (TR4) response, sustainable funding for IPPC ePhyto Solution, resource mobilization and the International Day of Plant Health.

The CPM Bureau noted the success of the 2023 IPPC regional workshops, held in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe and Central Asia, Latin America, Near East and North Africa, and Southwest-Pacific, and attended by representatives from 133 IPPC contracting parties. The regional workshops typically last three days, but it was recommended that an extra day be added for more discussion of regional plant health issues at the 2024 IPPC regional workshops.

The CPM Bureau, which guides the CPM on the strategic direction, financial and operational management of its activities, also discussed with the IPPC Secretariat, plans for holding the next or eighteenth CPM (CPM-18) session in 2024. The Bureau agreed not to form a credentials committee but, on a trial basis, to check the credentials of participants attending CPM-18 prior to the start of the CPM session (morning), and then present the credentials report for adoption during the session. Contracting parties will therefore be invited to submit these credentials to the IPPC Secretariat before CPM-18.

During the meeting, Osama El-Lissy, IPPC Secretary, provided an update on the secretariat’s core work of standard setting, implementation and facilitation, integration and support, and the secretariat’s internal management initiatives. The initiatives are the global phytosanitary programme, with the pilot phase being in Africa (Africa Phytosanitary Programme-APP), the global trade support team which will provide support and timely information to contracting parties on trade-related international standards for phytosanitary measures (ISPMs), and the IPPC center of excellence – an accessible and easy-to-use consolidated depository for plant health information. The Bureau and SPG also recommended that the APP be included in the commission's agenda in 2024

Strategic Planning Group meeting

©FAO/Lorenzo Monterosa

The Strategic Planning Group (SPG) discussed the upcoming 35th Technical Consultation among regional plant protection organizations (TC-RPPOs) meeting from 24-27 October 2023 in Bogota, Colombia. It proposed some key issues for discussion at the forthcoming meeting, such as the role of plant health in the One Health approach, the International Day of Plant Health (IDPH), opportunities for enhancing coordination among RPPOs, and finally requested that the agenda for CPM-18 in 2024, includes a discussion on the role of RPPOs.

The purpose of the Strategic Planning Group, which meets at least once a year, is to provide a strategic perspective to the work of the IPPC community and support improvement through the provision of recommendations and advice to the CPM on any issues referred to it or related to its functions. One of the recommendations of the SPG to the CPM was for inclusion of preparations for IDPH as a standing agenda item at SPG and CPM Bureau meetings. IDPH is marked annually to raise global awareness on the contribution of plant health to ending hunger, reducing poverty, protecting the environment and boosting economic development.
A key topic discussed during the CPM Bureau and the SPG meetings is the essential role and contribution of plant health in the One Health initiative. The Secretary was encouraged to engage FAO and other global organizations to underscore the importance of plant health in the context of One Health, including facilitating the submission of a paper on the topic, to the Eighth One Health World Congress in September 2024 and to CPM-18.

Both the CPM Bureau and SPG meetings received updates on the revised terms of reference for CPM focus groups, as well as updates from the CPM focus groups on Global Research Coordination, Diagnostic Laboratory Networking, Sea Containers, Climate Change and Phytosanitary Issues and Safe Provision of Food and Other Humanitarian Aid.
Reports of the CPM Bureau and SPG meetings will be available via the IPPC website here and here respectively.

Related information:

More about the CPM Bureau

More about the Strategic Planning Group