New IPPC guides and e-learning courses – key implementation and capacity development resources for the phytosanitary community

Justina Chivanga is a Senior Plant Health Inspector and Head of Standards and Regulations Unit in the Department of Plant Quarantine and Phytosanitary Service (NPPO of Zambia within the Ministry of Agriculture). Justina holds a Master of Science in Agriculture (Plant Protection) from the University of Queensland and a Masters in International Trade law and Trade Policy from the Trade Policy Training Centre in Africa (TRAPCA) in conjunction with Lund University in Sweden. In addition to working for the NPPO, Justina is currently a Phytosanitary Capacity Evaluation (PCE) facilitator-in-training for Zimbabwe and the PCE National Coordinator for Zambia. She appreciates the IPPC guides and e-learning training materials both as capacity building preparation ahead of her PCE facilitator training course and overall as a member of staff for the NPPO which she says have contributed to the smooth and effective execution of her phytosanitary duties.

Steve Cote joined the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), NPPO of Canada, in 2002 in the Plant Protection Division working on domestic, import, and export phytosanitary issues. Since 2018, Steve has been the national manager of the International Phytosanitary Standards Section of the Plant Export Division. In this role, Steve is responsible for overseeing CFIA’s engagement in the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) and the North American Plant Protection Organization (NAPPO). Steve previously served as a member of the NAPPO Advisory and Management Committee (AMC) and was involved in the development and revision of various NAPPO Regional Standards for Phytosanitary Measures. He is currently a member of the IPPC Standards Committee which is responsible for overseeing the IPPC standard-setting process, managing the development of international standards for phytosanitary measures (ISPMs), and providing guidance and oversight to the work of technical panels and expert working groups.

Francisco Gutierrez is the Technical Director of the Plant Health Department of the Belize Agricultural Health Authority and has full responsibility of managing the NPPO of his country. He holds a Master of Science Degree (M.Sc.) in Plant Protection from the Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE), Turrialba, Costa Rica, completed in 1996. In 1994, he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree (B.Sc.) in Agricultural Sciences from the Escuela de Agricultura de la Región Tropical Húmeda (EARTH University) in Guácimo, Limón, Costa Rica. Francisco has been involved in IPPC-related activities for the past sixteen years. From 2008 to 2014 he was the representative for Latin America and the Caribbean in the CPM Bureau of the IPPC for three consecutive terms. In 2017, he was selected as the representative for Latin America and the Caribbean for the newly established Implementation and Capacity Development Committee (IC) of the CPM and is now in his third term in this role. As part of his role within the IC, Francisco is IC lead of the IC team on Guides and Training Materials, the IC team that supports the development of IPPC Guides and training materials and the associated strategy and processes.