IPPC Webinar: The Standard setting procedure – an overview

The international standards for plant health play a crucial role in protecting sustainable agriculture and global food security, the environment, forests and biodiversity, as well as in facilitating safe trade and economic development. The Secretariat of International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) will organize on Thursday 31 March 2022 a webinar entitled "The Standard Setting Procedure – an overview". The webinar aims to highlight the important aspects of the Standard Setting Procedure, where contracting parties can exchange their views and provide their inputs.

Date: Thursday 31 March 2022.

Time: 9:00 – 11:00 A.M. (Rome Time) or 1700- 19:00 (Rome Time)

Invited to attend: National Plant Protection Organizations (NPPOs) and other interested parties

Objectives:

• To enhance understanding of the standard setting procedure.
• To raise awareness on the standard setting procedure.
• To explain how to contribute to the standard setting procedure.

How to attend: Register for the morning session or the afternoon session (by Zoom)

Languages: English, French, Spanish; Arabic; Chinese; Russian

The IPPC was established seven decades ago to prevent the introduction and spread of plant pests and harmful organisms. Moreover, it is the only international convention mandated to develop international standards for plant health as recognized by the WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement). The goals of these standards are to protect plants from pests, facilitate the plants and plants products trade across borders and set the appropriate phytosanitary measures. Signing with IPPC allows a contracting party to directly and actively input into processes of global harmonization, including setting international standards.

The first International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPM) was adopted in 1993. The process for setting standard have developed a lot ever since and the latest version of the IPPC Standard Setting Procedure was adopted by Commission of Phytosanitary Measures in 2016 ensuring the utmost inclusiveness and transparency.

The standard setting work of the IPPC is led by the CPM’s Standards Committee. The Standards Committee (SC) is supported by various technical panels, expert working groups, and the IPPC Secretariat to ensure the development of the highest quality, technically and scientifically sound standards. The Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM) adopts ISPMs.

The programme: SC members and the IPPC Secretariat will cover topics about the global importance of the ISPMs, the main steps of the development of an ISPM, the drafting groups and the work of the SC. It will also touch upon the main steps and differences on the development of diagnostic protocols, phytosanitary treatments and phytosanitary terms. It will also have a session on How to get involved, with experience sharing from NPPOs and RPPOs perspectives. The IPPC Secretariat plans to launch a short video about the “The IPPC Standard setting procedure (SSP) at a glance”.

Find more information on subsequent sessions here.

The four stages of the IPPC Standard Setting Procedure.