Protecting the world's plant resources from pests: Safe trade, food security and environmental protection with IPPC new adopted standards!

The Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM), in their thirteenth session, successfully adopted five International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs) as follows:

1) Revision of ISPM 6 (Surveillance)

2) 2015 and 2016 amendments to ISPM 5 (Glossary of phytosanitary terms)

3) Revision of Annex 1 and Annex 2 to ISPM 15, for inclusion of the phytosanitary treatment sulphuryl fluoride fumigation and revision of the dielectric heating section

4) ISPM 42 Requirements for the use of temperature treatments as a phytosanitary measures

5) PT 32 Vapour heat treatment for Bactrocera dorsalis on Carica papaya - Annex to ISPM 28 (Phytosanitary treatments for regulated pests)

The CPM also noted the Standards Committee (SC) adopted on their behalf the following two diagnostic protocols (DPs) as Annexes to ISPM 27 (Diagnostic protocols for regulated pests):

• DP 23: Phytophthora ramorum and

• DP 24: Tomato spotted wilt virus, Impatiens necrotic spot virus and Watermelon silver mottle virus.

The IPPC is recognized by the World Trade Organization as the only standard setting organization in the world for plant health. Countries rely on IPPC standards to help protect plants, which in turn helps to achieve greater food security, alleviate poverty, protect the environment and facilitate trade.

Each year, the CPM adopts IPPC standards by consensus. According to the standard setting procedure, if any of the 183 contracting parties do not agree with the adoption of a standard, they have the opportunity to submit an official objection in advance of the CPM session. This rule helps to ensure that contracting parties are in agreement with the ISPMs, therefore enabling international harmonization of phytosanitary measures.

Another great achievement of the CPM-13 is the reorganization of the IPPC fruit flies standards. The reorganization was proposed last year, however agreement was not reached. This year, the CPM agreed by consensus on reorganizing the ISPMs related to fruit flies: based on international practices, the reorganization will help the implementation of the suite of fruit fly standards to become more logical and simple to prevent the introduction and spread of fruit flies and to facilitate safe trade. The reorganization of these ISPMs was result of a huge collaborative work between the IPPC Technical Panel on Fruit Flies, the Standards Committee and several countries from different FAO regions.

The adoption of the revision of ISPM 6: Surveillance

Surveillance is one of the core activities of national plant protection organizations (NPPOs). It provides NPPOs with a technical basis for many phytosanitary measures; for example, phytosanitary import requirements, pest free areas, pest reporting and eradication, and pest status in an area. It is essential in plant protection. The revision of ISPM 6 was requested to take into account the greater knowledge of surveillance methodologies that is now available, as well as experiences with implementation of the standard.

The revised standard describes requirements for surveillance, including the components of a National Surveillance System and the design for surveillance programmes (general and specific surveillance). The supporting infrastructure for surveillance is also included in this revised version. The standard facilitates the establishment of continuing, dynamic and efficient pest surveillance systems in order to enable the development of actions to be taken by a NPPO for the prevention of pest introduction and spread, pest management and pest reporting.

The adoption of the ISPM 42: Requirements for the use of Temperature Treatments as Phytosanitary Measures

The purpose of this standard is to provide generic requirements for the application of phytosanitary temperature treatments, specifically those adopted under ISPM 28 Phytosanitary treatments for regulated pests. Of the adopted phytosanitary treatments (PTs), 13 are temperature related and at CPM-13, another phytosanitary temperature treatment was adopted; PT 32: Vapour heat treatment for Bactrocera dorsalis on Carica papaya. This emphasizes the importance of the newly adopted ISPM 42 in providing guidance on the application of these various phytosanitary temperature treatments. This standard will provide guidance on the main operational requirements for the application of each type of temperature treatment to achieve this objective. This adds to the IPPC work on treatments alternatives to methyl bromide - another great achievement on environmental protection.

The adoption of the revision of ISPM 15: Regulation of wood packaging material in international trade

Wood packaging materials (WPM) move from country to country and accompany many different commodities, which may not present a pest risk. However the WPM may pose phytosanitary risk of introduction and spread of quarantine pests. The regulation of WPM represents a substantial undertaking. Estimates suggest that wood packaging material and cardboard and paper packaging account for the second largest use of wood fibre worldwide. The proposed revision is part of the continuing work to adopt feasible treatments for WPM, to provide alternative to the use of methyl bromide (MB) - the revised version of the ISPM 15 now includes sulphuryl fluoride fumigation treatments and updates on the dielectric heating section. It is important to highlight that the CPM had adopted an IPPC recommendation on Replacement or reduction of the use of MB as a phytosanitary measure (CPM Recommendations: click here).

This revised standard describes the sulphuryl fluoride treatment of WPM made from raw wood describes actual treatment schedules and provides specific guidance on the factors to be taking into consideration for the successful application.

The compliance with ISPM 15 is indicated by marking the treated WPM with a specific symbol. The CPM encourages contracting parties to continuously support the process of registration of the ISPM 15 symbol, including renewals of registrations that are due to expire. FAO has delegated the NPPO as the authority to authorize and monitor the national use of the symbol in the ISPM 15 mark.

The CPM convened from 16 to 20 April in Rome, Italy. If you wish to retrieve more information about IPPC standards, see: https://www.ippc.int/en/core-activities/standards-setting/