The annual meeting of the IPPC Secretariat for 2020 held at FAO-HQs in Rome

Rome, 24 February 2020 – The 2020 annual meeting of the IPPC Secretariat was held at FAO-HQs in Rome. The meeting was chaired by Mr Jingyuan Xia, IPPC Secretary, and attended by all Secretariat’s staff. At the meeting, a briefing was made from each Unit (Team, Group and Task Force); a brainstorming was organized on how to contribute to delivering the IYPH and maximizing benefit for the IPPC community; and a conclusion remark was addressed by Mr Xia.

In his remarks, Mr Xia highlighted up to ten major achievements accomplished by the IPPC staff in 2019, along with several new perspectives and challenges expected in 2020.

According to the IPPC Secretary, 2019 marked an historical moment for the global plant health community, bridging the linkage between the IPPC Strategic Framework for 2012-2019 and the new one for 2020-2030. Nevertheless, the preparation of the International Year of Plant (IYPH), effectively undertaken by the IPPC staff and culminated in December 2nd with the official launch event hold at FAO headquarter and opened by the FAO DG in person, was cited by Mr Xia as the first key success of the IPPC community in 2019. The support of all the IPPC governance activities, the setting and implementation of the IPPC standards and related projects, and the full operation of the IPPC ePhyto Solution were additional remarkable accomplishments of 2019 by the IPPC community.

Under the 2019 annual theme on Plant health and Capacity Development, the IPPC coordinated a wide range of activities, enhanced communications and advocacy performances, and promoted international cooperation. What is more, for the very first time a developing country, such as Kenya, decided to contribute to the IPPC, remarked Mr Xia with pride, highlighting the importance of resource mobilization. “Looking at the multi-donor trust fund and regular programme contributions in 2019, making it a record year for the IPPC”, stressed so the IPPC Secretary.

Finally, the optimization of internal management mechanisms was mentioned by the IPPC Secretary as one of the key achievements of 2019. To incentive staff motivation and recognition, the IPPC Secretary rewarded five IPPC Secretariat staff members for their outstanding contribution to the IPPC. In particular, Mr Mirko Montuori, Ms Adriana Moreira, Mr Marko Benovic, Ms Sarah Brunel and Ms Tanja Lahti. The first two were also separately recognized by FAO for their exemplary work under two different categories: 100 excellent workers ad 100 young achievers, respectively.

Looking at 2020, the effective organization of all IYPH-related activities was defined by the IPPC Secretary as a primary issue for the whole plant health community. On the other hand, the support of established IPPC governing body activities comes now as a priority for the IPPC community, especially in view of the CPM-15’s ministerial segment on final adoption of the IPPC strategic framework for 2020-2030, and the issuance of a ministerial declaration on plant health.

Innovation is a key notion for the year 2020, stated Mr Xia discussing the IPPC work on commodity and pathways standards and emerging pest outbreak alert and response system as one of the IPPC core activities for 2020. Thus, enhancing national phytosanitary capacity, promoting large-scale application of IPPC ePhyto solutions and implementing FAO global action on Fall Armyworm control and prevention are also important actions to be taken by the IPPC in 2020. In his conclusion remarks, the IPPC Secretary did not forget to mention the importance of implementing the IPPC strategic framework for 2020-2030, and the IPPC Secretariat five-year investment plan 2021-2025.

Most importantly, delivering a successful IYPH is what the IPPC Secretary asked all the IPPC staff to actively contribute to throughout the year. Raising global awareness of plant health through improved communication, establishing effective cooperation with IPPC partners and working on resource mobilization are all essential ingredients to reach this collective goal.