The 6th CPM Strategic Planning Group SPG) Meeting Held in Rome

The 6th CPM Strategic Planning Group (SPG) meeting was held at FAO-HQ in Rome, Italy, from 10-12 October 2017. The meeting was chaired by Mr Francisco Javier Trujillo Arriaga (Mexico), the Vice Chairperson of CPM, and opened by Mr Jingyuan Xia, the IPPC Secretary. The meeting was attended by 43 participants from 35 IPPC Contracting Parties, as well as a representative of the World Bank and IPPC Secretariat staff. Mr Sam Bishop (United Kingdom) was selected as the Rapporteur.

The SPG participants were briefed by the SPG Chairperson, Mr Trujillo Arriaga on the outcomes of the CPM-12 held in the Republic of Korea and the June CPM Bureau meeting held in Washington D.C., USA. The IPPC Secretary, Mr Xia, delivered a keynote address on the development and achievements of the IPPC in 65 years, providing background information on the historical development stages of IPPC, major achievements and the IPPC Strategic Objective towards 2020-2030.

The discussion at the SPG meeting focused mainly on the proposed IPPC Strategic Framework for 2020-2030 and sustainable funding mechanism. In addition, several other IPPC-related issues were also discussed, such as the call for phytosanitary issues and outcomes of the ad-hoc Focus Group met on 9 October 2017; International Year of Plant Health (IYPH) in 2020; 2018 IPPC theme on Plant Health and Environment Protection; Promotion of the implementation of e-commerce; Implementation of e-phyto project; IPPC trade facilitation work plan; Industry Advisory Group and stakeholders involvement; Cooperation with International Seed Federation; and Proposal for the International Day for Plant Health (IDPH) and International Phytosanitary Conference.

Mr Xia emphasized at the meeting on the importance of have a sustainable source of funding for the IPPC to sustain the implementation of its work programme, facing the ongoing emerging challenges related plant pests spread and phytosanitary issues, and raising administrative constrains facing the recruitment of staff. He also pointed out the budgetary gap of the IPPC, and solicited the inputs and the endorsement of SPG to the proposed sustainable funding mechanism prepared by the CPM Financial Committee with support of the IPPC Secretariat as well as the FAO Legal Office and Finance Division.