IPPC Continues International Cooperation at WTO SPS Transparency Champions Course

Geneva, 11 October 2024, The International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) Secretariat continues its international cooperation efforts by participating in the World Trade Organization – Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement (WTO SPS) Transparency Champions Course, which took place from 30 September to 11 October 2024. Building on the success of the 2022 edition, this year’s course brought together government officials from 25 developing countries to strengthen their understanding of the WTO SPS Agreement’s transparency provisions and its critical role in global agricultural trade.

The course, supported by the SPS Secretariat, included a combination of lectures, group work, and field-based learning activities. With a focus on practical skills, participants engaged in interactive sessions led by experts from Brazil, Uganda, and the SPS Secretariat, covering topics such as the standard-setting process and the role of developing countries in ensuring transparency.

Adriana Moreira, Deputy Lead of the Standard Setting of the IPPC, contributed as a technical officer and speaker, facilitating key discussions on transparency and the SPS framework. Moreira stressed the importance of international collaboration in improving global agricultural standards: “The continued cooperation between the IPPC, Codex, and WOAH ensures that developing countries actively participate in the transparency framework, fostering better production, nutrition, sustainability and a safe international trade for economic development.”

Deputy Lead of the Standard Setting of the IPPC facilitating the course ©IPPC/ Adriana Moreira

During her session, Moreira highlighted the IPPC’s role in advancing transparency in global plant health standards, emphasizing the importance of communication, national reporting obligations and penciling on the monitoring of international standards. The event also marked the IPPC’s continued collaboration with key international organizations like Codex Alimentarius and the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH), known as the “Three Sisters” under the WTO-SPS Agreement.

As part of the course, participants developed action plans to strengthen SPS transparency frameworks in their respective countries, which will be followed up in a 2025 session.

The IPPC Secretariat’s involvement underlines the important partnership between the IPPC, WTO, and other international organizations, known as the "Three Sisters" in international standard-setting: the IPPC (plant health), Codex Alimentarius (food safety), and the WOAH (animal health).

Related information:

The IPPC and the SPS Agreement - International Plant Protection Convention

DG Okonjo-Iweala stresses importance of SPS, TBT transparency to facilitate trade (WTO news)

IPPC joins WTO launch of SPS Transparency Champions Course - International Plant Protection Convention