Strengthening the implementation of the ePhyto Solution in Costa Rica with a joint IPPC/ePhyto Industry Advisory Group workshop

Rome, 4 August 2021. The fourth workshop in the series of ePhyto industry workshops continued with Costa Rica. The workshops, organized by the ePhyto Industry Advisory Group (IAG) with support from the IPPC Secretariat aim to facilitate conversations between importers, exporters, trade associations and National Plant Protection Organizations (NPPOs) on the benefits of adopting the IPPC ePhyto Solution. They also help foster relationships between local industry and NPPO’s, as well as initiate discussions on the current status of implementation and how the systems works in that particular country.

Seventy-seven participants from government, the private sector and members of Trade Associations were present while some members from the ePhyto Steering Group (ESG) were also in attendance to answer questions.

Costa Rica joined the IPPC ePhyto Solution using their own national system and connecting directly to the ePhyto Hub. Since overcoming some technical challenges due to their linkage with their national single window system (PROCOMER) and aligning their phytosanitary certificates with IPPC requirements they successfully began live exchanges with the USA, Chile and Argentina since June 2020 across all commodities for import and export amounting to tens of thousands of ePhytos. They have also worked on implementing digital signatures and testing is still ongoing with Mexico, New Zealand, and the Republic of Korea with the hope to be trading 100 percent with these countries via the IPPC ePhyto Solution by the end of 2021. However, some pending challenges were raised in relation to the EU due to their specific requirements with security certificates but Costa Rica are currently testing with France and want to initiate testing with other EU member states so the ePhyto exchange can begin to be tested and used with all EU countries.

Regarding their hopes for the future of the Solution, the NPPO representative noted the importance of communication and hoped that more countries will join the IPPC ePhyto Solution soon.

The IAG will continue to host similar workshops between NPPOs and industry groups in 2021, with continued support from the IPPC Secretariat to enhance communication and collaborations on the implementation of the IPPC ePhyto Solution. The next workshop will take place on 2 September 2021 with China.

To find out more on the IPPC ePhyto Solution please visit: www.ephytoexchange.org