IPPC Workshops in Central Africa to discuss meeting national reporting obligations and participation in the standard setting process.

Two workshops were held in Libreville, Gabon, from 29 October - 03 November for 10 Central African countries as part of a phytosanitary capacity development project TCP/RAF/3312 funded by FAO. There were 19 participants from the region and the IPPC Secretariat.

The overall IPPC objectives are:

protecting local food security systems from new pest outbreaks; protecting the environment (including forestry), and hence plant resources, from pests of plants; and the safe (phytosanitary) trade of plants and plant products. The first half of the week was about national participation in the IPPC standard setting process. The second half of the week was about collecting and communicating official phytosanitary information necessary to implement the IPPC and associated standards.''¨''¨Participants have developed national action plans (based on their needs and resources) to improve their capacity and ensure practical actions in this regard over the next 18 months. This takes their current level of phytosanitary capacity and available resources into account.

Information shared during the workshop can be found at: https://www.ippc.int/index.php?id=1111163&no_cache=1&L=0