Call for topics sets the stage for the future IPPC work programme: the Task Force on Topics meeting

The Task force on Topics (TFT) helps make sure that the IPPC s future work plan reflects IPPC contracting parties emerging needs.

3 October 2018, Rome - The world is changing rapidly. New challenges related to rapidly expanding international trade, quickly spreading plant pests and diseases, and climate change are rising and the IPPC community is already planning a strategy to meet them.

To identify topics to be included in the IPPC work programme, a Task force on Topics (TFT) reviewed submissions to the 2018 Call for topics: Standards and Implementation during a meeting on 1-3 October 2018 at FAO HQ in Rome. Fourteen IPPC contracting parties - including ten National Plant Protection Organizations (NPPOs) and four Regional Plant Protection Organizations (RPPOs) - submitted 36 topic proposals, including:

• 10 for diagnostic protocols for regulated pests;

• 13 for standards or revisions of standards; and

• 13 for implementation resources.

The topic proposals can be found on the call for topics website.

The TFT discussed the review process to ensure transparent assessments of the submissions. They then reviewed the proposed topics in depth to develop recommendations for the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM). For some topics, the TFT recommended a different way of addressing the problem from that originally proposed in the submission.

The TFT emphasized the need to prioritize topics within the context of the IPPC Strategic Framework 2020-2030, especially in view of other ongoing discussions within the IPPC community - such as those on commodity and pathway standards, and e-commerce.

They identified synergies between topics, highlighting the value of regional coordination when submitting topics, and the need for collaboration between the Standards setting and Implementation activities of the IPPC.

The TFT recommendations to the CPM will be presented to the Standards Committee and the Implementation and Capacity Development Committee in November 2018. The TFT will then discuss the outcomes of the discussions of the two Committees and prepare final recommendations for CPM-14, which will take place in April 2019.