¿Who, What and How?

·         Who should meet and how should consultations be conducted?

Consultation meetings at institutional and national level should be carefully organized, facilitating the participation of all relevant actors in the public sector and stakeholders. If face-to-face meetings  are not possible because organizational, financial or logistical challenges, other viable means of conducting the required consultations should be sought via the Internet or video conferences. Persons, organizations, or institutions to be consulted should be strictly  related to the items on  the agenda and participants should be fully qualified for  representation and decision making. 

·         Which agenda should be discussed?

Issues for discussion should be directly and closely linked to the agenda for the specific meeting of the CPM, without any diversion to other issues of national interest. It is also important to remember that the CPM agenda and discussion documents should be distributed in advance to enable participants to adequately formulate their views and positions.

How to formulate a country or regional position?

Country positions should be conformed based on consultations at the national level, so interventions at the CPM meetings are made on behalf of the country, and not on the basis of personal opinions. It should also be remembered that only the NPPOs, within the country delegation, and only the head of delegation - normally the highest authority of the NPPO, or his alternate- are spokespersons for these positions during CPM meetings or in previous consultations.

The RPPO has its own means of conforming regional positions, which include holding several regional meetings to coordinate positions.

·        How to shape country positions in a document or via presentation at the meeting?

If there is a proposal to introduce a new item on the agenda, the proposal document should be submitted to the Director General of the FAO in advance (November-December of the year preceding the CPM meeting), and sent in like manner to the IPPC Secretariat.

It may be difficult to fully understand presentations in the meeting if there are changes to the text, and for this reason, it is suggested to prepare simultaneously a document,  summarising the changes proposed (in one of the FAO official languages ); it is even better to submit these to the Secretariat to be reproduced and submitted to CPM members before the matter in question is addressed.

How to ensure consistency of the process?

The consultation process on issues to be addressed at the CPM should be conducted every year, in those areas where there is relevance and specific alignment with the CPM agenda. The NPPOs should include among their functions and tasks the holding of these types of consultations, and if possible, process the comments received nationally and regionally. A section of the NPPO should be responsible for implementing the preparation procedures and consultation meetings for the CPM.

 Who should attend meetings?

These persons should be directly involved in matters related to the preparation of national and regional positions and technically qualified to address issues relating to plant protection. They should also be able to make a contribution at all stages of discussions during the CPM meeting. At the same time they should have the authority to make decisions as well as make statements on behalf of their country during plenary sessions. It is better for them to have good  English skills, since there are no interpreters in many of the meetings. The Directors of the NPPO are who normally attend, accompanied, if possible, by their advisers.