Check out the new Systems Approach webpage

Rome, 4 November 2021. The Secretariat of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) has developed several webpages that bring together in one place available tools, standards and materials on selected topics ranging from sea containers to pest reporting. Also known as “component pages”, these sections of the IPPC website collectively cover all the areas in a phytosanitary system and help countries access relevant information and technical resources, including International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures. Among these component pages, the IPPC Secretariat has launched a new section on Systems Approach which includes all the information to assist National Plant Protection Organizations with the implementation of a systems approach for mitigating pest risks.

As the Implementation and Capacity Development Committee chairperson highlights in his video message, systems approaches are viable alternatives to complex procedures and restrictive import measures. Thus, many countries are resorting to using a Systems Approach to allow for the import and export of plants and plant products. While the requirements for Systems Approach are outlined in ISPM 14 (The use of integrated measures in a systems approach for pest risk management), grasping all the nuances and understanding how the different measures can be integrated into systems can be difficult.

The Systems Approach online tools, developed under the Rolling out Systems Approach Globally project (MTF/INT/336/STF), funded by the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF), are there to help. They are an excel-based collection of templates designed by the Imperial College London to provide a visual experience when developing measures as part of a Systems Approach.

To support the implementation of the tools, twelve experts from regional and national plant protection organizations, and associated agencies have been trained as facilitators and are now able to support the tools for a specific trade case or pathway analysis. These trained facilitators are ready to help national plant protection organizations use these tools.

An infographic video has been produced in English, French and Spanish to illustrate how a Systems Approach works and how the IPPC tools support its implementation. The video will be also available in Arabic, Chinese and Russian.

Learn more

Phytosanitary system page on Systems Approach

Systems Approach online tools page

Video message from the chairperson of the Implementation and capacity development committee

Infographic video