Cooperation on Phytosanitary Measures among the Chinese Initiative 'One Belt and One Road' Countries: An IPPC High-level Symposium

28 September 2018, Nanning - China s One Belt and One Road initiative seeks to boost development and trade links between Asia, Pacific, Europe, Africa, Latin America and Caribbean. In order to continue facilitating trade while preventing the spread of plant pests and diseases, an IPPC High-Level Symposium on Cooperation for Phytosanitary Measures among the Chinese Initiative One Road Countries was organized in Nanning, China from 25 to 28 September 2018.

The Symposium was opened by Mr Jingyuan Xia, IPPC Secretary, and moderated by Ms Sarah Brunel, Implementation Facilitation Officer of the IPPC Secretariat. The Symposium was attended by over 40 participants and observers from 14 countries in Asia, the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as from three Regional Plant Protection Organizations (RPPOs) including the Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Safety Agency (CAHFSA), the Comunidad Andina (CAN) and the Pacific Plant Protection Organization (PPPO).

The IPPC Secretary presented an overview of the IPPC Capacity Development Project under the Framework of the FAO-China Sooth-South Cooperation (SSC) Programme. All participating National and Regional Plant Protection Organizations presented reports on their countries and regions. Their presentations covered the regulatory, technical and operational aspects of plant quarantine systems; opportunities and challenges related to phytosanitary measures; emerging regulated pests; and recommendations to promote cooperation on phytosanitary measures among One Belt and One Road countries. Participants also visited a customs port and a pilot site for green plant protection in Guangxi Province.

There were four major results of the Symposium:

• awareness on the importance of the Chinese initiative One Belt and One Road; the FAO-China SSC programme; and the IPPC project on capacity development under the framework of the FAO-China SSC programme was raised substantially;

• participants had a better understanding of the composition and function of the Chinese Phytosanitary Systems;

• participants expressed strong interest in promoting bilateral and inter-regional cooperation on phytosanitary measures among participating countries and regions; and

• ten valuable recommendations were proposed to promote bilateral and inter-regional cooperation with China.

The Symposium was co-organized by the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) Secretariat, the National Agro-technical Extension and Service Centre (NATESC) of China s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) and the Agriculture Department of Guangxi Province. It was financially supported by the IPPC Project on Capacity Development under the Framework of the FAO-China SSC Programme.

Background Information

The International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) Secretariat is implementing a global project under the framework of the FAO-China SSC Programme. The project s overall objective is to strengthen the capacity of developing contracting parties (CPs) to implement the IPPC and its International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs).

Two IPPC High-level Symposia on Cooperation of Phytosanitary Measures among the Chinese Initiative One Belt and One Road Countries will be organized in China as part of the project. The first Symposium covered One Road countries from Asia, the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean. The second Symposium will cover One Belt countries from Europe, the Near East and Africa.