The IPPC standard on authorization of entities off to a good start

An intense week to draft an International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPM) on authorization of entities to perform phytosanitary actions has been concluded successfully. The meeting, which was hosted by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, took place in Ottawa, Canada, from 12 to 16 June 2017, and was chaired by Gordon Henry (Canada).

The 11 participants, which included experts from around the world, gathered to discuss and debate what elements should be included in this standard. The result was a draft standard that provides a framework to enable national plant protection organizations (NPPOs) to develop and implement a programme for the authorization of entities to perform specific phytosanitary actions. The draft standard outlines key requirements for the development of authorization programmes, criteria for eligibility of entities to become authorized, and identifies the roles and responsibilities of the parties involved in an authorization programme. Lastly, the draft standard outlines types of audits, non-conformities, and types of authorization status of the entities. The experts engaged in thoughtful discussion throughout the week, and demonstrated their willingness to reach agreement in building this consensus-based standard.

The standard will help build trust among NPPOs to accept the results of specific phytosanitary actions, which are performed by an authorized entity, as this standard provides appropriate guidance on how these authorized entities should be appropriately overseen by the authorizing NPPO. This in turn will help mobilize resources for additional phytosanitary actions and hereby help the global IPPC community meet one of the main goals of the IPPC; to protect the world s plant resources in a cost-efficient and effective manner.

The draft standard will be presented to the Standards Committee in their May 2018 meeting for consideration and, if approved, it will be presented to stakeholders for review and commenting in July 2018.