Highlights from the December 2018 Commission on Phytosanitary Measures Bureau meeting

11 December 2018 - The Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM) Bureau met virtually on 11 December 2018. Participants included six Bureau members and IPPC Secretariat core team members. Mr. Javier Trujillo (Mexico) chaired the meeting.

The meeting covered important topics such as sustainable funding for the IPPC Secretariat, resource mobilization, the Agenda and side sessions for CPM-14 (2019); and updates from the IPPC Standards and Implementation and Capacity Development (IC) Committees, and the Task Force on Sea Containers.

The CPM Bureau decided on several action points and agreed to:

• present the recommendation on Next Generation Sequencing technologies as a diagnostic tool for phytosanitary purposes for adoption at CPM-14 (2019); and

• mobilize more resources for the International Year of Plant Health (IYPH) and develop a list of potential donors.

Highlights from the IPPC Standards and Implementation and Capacity Development (IC) Committee meetings

• The Standards Committee recommended two International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs) for adoption by CPM-14 (2019); approved a new specification to be included as an annex to ISPM 39; discussed the commodity and pathway standards focus group and acknowledged possible changes to the standard setting procedure; and

• The Implementation and Capacity Development (IC) discussed the IC and its sub-groups Terms of Reference and Rules of Procedures. Discussions on the Sea Containers Task Force underlined the importance of keeping industry involved in making recommendations as they are the end user.

The Agenda for the CPM-14 (2019)

• The Minister of Agriculture of Mexico has accepted to deliver the opening address at CPM-14 (2019).

• A paper on emerging pests and emergency issues is being prepared for CPM which among other things clarifies the scope of the IPPC s work in this field.

• Ideas for special topics session include the FAO-China South-South Cooperation project; Phytosanitary Capacity Evaluation and Sea Containers.

The International Year of Plant Health 2020

The International Year of Plant Health 2020 The IYPH resolution was adopted by the Second Committee of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) with 94 co-sponsors. The UNGA Plenary is expected to proclaim the IYPH on 20 December 2018.