Enhancing Global Food Security through Strengthening Plant Health

The year of 2016 is a milestone for the IPPC to start the implementation of the IPPC annual theme towards 2020, which means all IPPC activities for each year, starting from this year, should be related to a specified IPPC theme. The IPPC theme for 2016 is Plant Health and Food Security. Recently, Mr Jingyuan Xia, the IPPC Secretary, delivered a video message for 2016 IPPC Regional Workshops, focusing on Enhancing Global Food Security through Strengthening of Plant Health.

In his speech, Mr. Xia briefed the definitions of plant health and food security. From both definitions, he stated that there are four important contributions for plant health to promote global food security: a) Contribution to food availability, as plant health directly promote food production through reduction of food crop yield losses so as to ensure food available for all people at all times; b) Contribution to food accessibility, as plant health directly promote food trade through setting and implementation of international and regional standards for phytosanitary measures so as to ensure food to be accessible for all people at all times; c) Contribution to food affordability, as plant health directly increase farmer s profitability through reduction of economic losses from damage of plant pests and facilitation of agricultural trade so as to ensure food to be affordable for all people at all times; and d) Contribution to food safety, as plant health directly increase food safety through reduction and scientific application of pesticides so as to ensure food safe for all people at all times*.

In his message, Mr Xia stressed that the IPPC community should work together to promote the global food security in three areas: a) Strengthening standards setting, where the IPPC s work should be prioritized in areas of grain products, commercial products, and trade facilitation; b) Strengthening standards implementation, where the IPPC s work should be more focused on increasing in capacity and capability of contracting parties to address the issues on plant pest surveillance, risk assessment, diagnostic protocols, and phytosanitary treatments; and c) Strengthening communication and partnership, where the IPPC s work on communication and advocacy should be enhanced to raise the awareness of the public and political decision makers about plant health at the global, regional and national levels, and that on partnership and liaison should be enhanced to integrate all resources available for support to the IPPC work programme on food security.

Mr Xia stressed that organization of the IPPC Regional Workshops is a top priority of the IPPC Secretariat s work so as to promote the synergies and collaboration among NPPOs, RPPOs and the Secretariat for effective implementation of the IPPC and its standards. This year, the IPPC Regional Workshops have been reshuffled to be organized as a real forum for exchange in between NPPOs, RPPOs, FAO offices, operational institutions and the IPPC Secretariat. These innovations of operation would allow us to get a better understanding of NPPOs concerns, and to promote synergies and collaboration in between all interested parties.

Mr Xia urged all participants to be active in engaging in all activities of the Workshop, and to be active in making positive contribution to ensure the success of the Workshops. He also expressed his sincere gratitude to all hosting governments, all co-organizers, and all resource-contributors for their great support and kind assistance.

The video message is available at https://youtu.be/SXx_w4s_zco