The 28th IPPC Technical Consultation among Regional Plant Protection Organizations Successfully Held in Morocco

The 28th Technical Consultation (TC) among the Regional Plant Protection Organizations (RPPOs) was held from 14th to 18th November 2016 in Rabat, Morocco. The meeting was organized by the Near East Plant Protection Organization (NEPPO), with the presence of, for the first time, all 9 RPPOs and a representative from the Caribbean by the Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Safety Agency (CAHFSA).

Mr Jinguang Xia, IPPC Secretary opened the meeting and emphasized the important role played by RPPOs. The technical consultation was facilitated by Mr Orlando Sosa, the Implementation Facilitation Unit (IFU) Lead and Ms Sarah Brunel, Capacity Development Officer from the IFU. Mr Mekki Chouibani, NEPPO Executive Secretary, chaired the meeting.

The RPPOs presented an update on their activities by detailing: 1) Specificities of their RPPO; 2) Technical and capacity development achievements; 3) Emerging pests and issues; 4) Surveillance projects and activities and 5) Proposal for further collaboration.

The 28th TC facilitated exchange of information concerning activities conducted or planned by the IPPC. These included: the State of Plant Protection in the World, the implementation pilot project on surveillance, the activities on the International Year of Plant Health (IYPH) and the yearly themes, National Reporting Obligations, the Implementation and Review Support System (IRSS) and related studies, the 2016 IPPC Regional Workshops, the FAO foresight exercise and the 2020-2030 IPPC Strategic Framework.

RPPOs made proposals to work on emerging pest issues common to the regions. In this respect, RPPOs determined joint actions by comparing emerging pests in their regions, and identified areas for collaboration. They agreed to work on development of guidance on common contingency plans and systems approaches for: huanglongbing, Xylella fastidiosa, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense, and fruit flies through the implementation pilot project on surveillance. Concerning Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense Tropical race 4, an extremely detrimental pest to banana, the Andean Community (CAN) agreed to aggregate information on research activities being undertaken.

The RPPOs agreed on the revised roles and functions of RPPOs, to be presented to CPM-12. In support of the IPPC annual theme for 2017: Trade facilitation and plant health, RPPOs agreed to provide photographs illustrating phytosanitary activities in their regions for use in the IPPC 2017 calendar. The RPPOs reaffirmed their support for the FAO International Year of Plant Health and some announced elements of their plans to promote the initiative.