The IPPC continues to strengthen stakeholders' engagement in setting International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures

The IPPC Secretariat is pleased to announce that the number of countries commenting has almost doubled from 2011 (see graph above).This July, the IPPC Secretariat opened consultation periods through the new Online Comment System (OCS) for the highest number of standards ever processed by the IPPC Secretariat during a consultation period. A grand total of 84 IPPC Official contact points provided comments on 11 standards; a huge increase from 2015. Not only do we have the highest number of standards out for consultation in our history, but we also have a record number of stakeholders commenting; almost double last year s number said Brent Larson, Standards Officer with the IPPC Secretariat.

During the commenting period (July - September 2016), seven IPPC Regional Workshops were held (in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Latin America, Near East and North Africa, Southwest Pacific). National plant protection organizations and plant protection services participated in these workshops to discuss major concerns on the draft standards with the purpose of developing informed comments which were submitted through the OCS.

More than 5300 comments were received on the 11 draft standards, attesting to the efforts made by the IPPC Secretariat to engage stakeholders in its standard setting process and the success of the new OCS.

To evaluate and further improve the new OCS, the IPPC Secretariat has launched a survey targeted to those who submitted comments through the OCS during the recent consultation period. The results from the survey will help the Secretariat to improve the OCS for the next consultation.

The deadline for submitting feedback to the Survey is 30 November 2016.