The First CPM Bureau virtual meeting organized to move forward the IPPC work programme during the COVID-19 crisis

9 April 2020, Rome. The Bureau of the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM) held its first virtual meeting of 2020 to reorganise the IPPC’s work, following the postponement of CPM-15 due to the COVID-19 crisis. The meeting was chaired by Mr Francisco Javier Trujillo Arriaga, CPM Chair, opened by Mr Jingyuan Xia, IPPC Secretary, and attended by six Bureau members with the absence of the one from Near East Region. All core team members and relevant supporting staff of the IPPC Secretariat participated in the meeting.

The CPM Bureau Members shared, respectively, the important updates related to the current situation in each respective region, highlighting the impact that the COVID-19 outbreak is having on phytosanitary activities as well as the measures to prevent any risk related to food security. The IPPC Secretary Xia briefed to Bureau members about the major activities conducted by the IPPC Secretariat to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on plant health, as well as some important progress in the first quarter of 2020.

The CPM Bureau and the IPPC Secretariat discussed preliminary ways to further cooperate during these moments of crisis and laid out some initial proposals to provide guidance to the IPPC community globally by releasing a joint message on COVID-19 and plant health, and by creating a page on the International Phytosanitary Portal (IPP) dedicated to gathering all information related to COVID-19 and plant-health.

The main focus was to discuss possibilities for postponement, reschedule and cancelation of IPPC governing and subsidiary bodies meetings for 2020, and feasibilities for continuous promotion of the IYPH 2020. The arrangements of the CPM-15, Finance Committee, the Strategic Planning Group and the Technical Cooperation among RPPOs, will be announced case by case in due course. The Standards Committee (SC) and Implementation and Capacity Development Committee (IC) will hold their respective meetings in November with the ones in May to be cancelled.

The CPM Bureau will convene on a monthly basis or as urgent issues arise. The CPM Bureau agreed to provide inputs to nurture IYPH activities, which are currently being postponed and reviewed to adapt to the current situation mainly migrating many initiatives online, when possible.

The CPM Bureau concluded the meeting with the strong motivation to be the beacon for plant-health information and activities to provide the necessary support to continue all necessary phytosanitary activities worldwide, with the overall objective of positively contributing to the global efforts in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The CPM Bureau report will soon be available at the following link: https://www.ippc.int/en/core-activities/governance/bureau/