Annex IV: APPPC Regional standard setting procedural guidelines

The following procedural guidelines included in this document are:

1. Standard Setting
2. Terms of Reference for the APPPC Standards Committee
3. APPPC Standards Committee Rules of Procedure
4. Submission of proposal
5. Guidelines for the discussion paper
6. Procedure for determination of priorities for standard setting
7. Guidelines for specification
8. Availability of specifications to members
9. Procedure for designation of members of working groups
10. Guidelines for format of standard
11. Checklist for in-country consultation
12. Guidelines for submission of comments
13. Procedures for the adoption and review of standards
14.. Clarification of the use of Open-Ended Discussion Groups
15. Guidelines for identifying an emergency situation
16. Review period

1. Standard setting

Step 1: Proposals for a new regional standard or the review or revision of an existing standard are submitted to the APPPC secretariat by an NPPO in the form of a discussion paper.

Step 2: A list of proposals is submitted by the APPPC secretariat to the commission. The commission identifies the topics and priorities for standard setting from among the proposals submitted and others raised by the commission.

If an emergency situation arises and commission members wish to change the priority of the proposals for standards, such a request should be submitted to the APPPC secretariat by at least three members. The APPPC secretariat then submits the request to the Commission. If more than half of the members agree, the amendment is adopted.

Step 3: Specifications for the standards identified are drafted by the APPPC secretariat with assistance from APPPC members. The draft specifications are submitted to the APPPC Standards Committee for approval/amendment and subsequently made available to members for comment (60 days). Comment is by written submission to the APPPC secretariat. Specifications are finalized by the APPPC Standards Committee taking into account the comments.

Step 4: The APPPC Standards Committee with the assistance of the APPPC secretariat designates a working group. The working group drafts the regional standard according to the specification approved by the APPPC Standards Committee. The draft standard is submitted to the APPPC Standards Committee for review and approval.

Step 5: The approved draft standard is distributed by the APPPC secretariat to APPPC members and the IPPC secretariat for consultation (120 days). Comment is by written submission to the APPPC secretariat.

Step 6: The draft standard is revised by the APPPC Standards Committee with the assistance of the APPPC secretariat taking comments into account. The final version is submitted by the APPPC Standards Committee to the commission for adoption. The draft standards should be sent to members two months prior to the APPPC meeting.

Step 7: The regional standard is reviewed by the specified date or such other date as may be agreed upon by the commission.

Where appropriate, the APPPC Standards Committee may recommend the establishment of an open-ended discussion group to facilitate the development or review of a standard at any stage of the process.

2. Terms of reference for the APPPC Standards Committee

2.1 Establishment of the Standards Committee

The 22^nd session of the APPPC established the APPPC Standards Committee

2.2 Scope of the Standards Committee

The APPPC Standards Committee manages the standard-setting process and assists in the development of Regional Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (RSPM) which have been identified by the APPPC as priority standards.

2.3 Objective

The main objective of the APPPC Standards Committee is to prepare draft RSPMs according to the standard setting procedures in the most expeditious manner for adoption by the commission.

2.4 Structure of the APPPC Standards Committee

The APPPC Standards Committee will consist of 9 members, including 2 members from each of the South Asia, North-east Asia, Pacific APPPC sub regions and three members from the South-east Asia region. The distribution for each APPPC sub region will be:

South Asia	2
South-east Asia	3
North-east Asia	2
Pacific	2

As the membership of the APPPC increases, the numbers of experts in the APPPC Standards Committee should be reviewed.

2.5 Appointment of the Standards Committee

The APPPC Standards Committee is appointed by the commission.

2.6 Functions of the APPPC Standards Committee

The APPPC Standards Committee serves as a forum for:

approval of draft specifications or amendment of specifications;
finalization of specifications;
designation of membership of working groups and drafting groups as required;
review of draft RSPMs;
approval of draft standards to be submitted to the commission for consultation;
establishment of open-ended discussion groups where appropriate;
revision of draft RSPMs in cooperation with the APPPC members taking into account comments of the APPPC;
approval of final draft of RSPMs for submission to a commission session;
review of existing RSPMs and those requiring reconsideration;
other functions related to standard setting as directed by the commission.

2.7 APPPC Secretariat

The APPPC Secretariat provides administrative, technical and editorial support as required by the APPPC Standards Committee. The APPPC secretariat is responsible for reporting and record keeping regarding the standard-setting programme.

3. Rules of procedure for the APPPC Standards Committee

Rule 1. Membership

Members should be senior officials designated by governments and have qualifications in a scientific biological discipline (or equivalent) in plant protection, and experience and skills particularly in the:

practical operation of national or international phytosanitary systems;
administration of national or international phytosanitary systems; and
application of phytosanitary measures related to international trade.

Each APPPC sub-region may nominate a sub-regional coordinator (notified to the commission) or request assistance from the APPPC secretariat in arranging selection of members for the APPPC Standards Committee.

Rule 2. Period of Membership

Members of the APPPC Standards Committee shall be appointed for four years. The APPPC commission may extend this period as is required with the sub-region concerned.

Rule 3. Chair

The Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson of the APPPC Standards Committee are elected by the Standards Committee and serve for two years, with a possibility of re-election for two years.

Rule 4. Sessions

Meetings shall be arranged as required to deal with the duties of the committee.

Rule 5. Approval

Approvals relating to specifications or draft standards are made by consensus.

Rule 6. Reports

The APPPC Standards Committee meeting reports should be kept by the APPPC secretariat. Meeting reports shall include:

approval of draft specifications for RSPMs;
finalization of specifications; and
reasons why a draft standard has not been approved.

Reports should be adopted by the APPPC Standards Committee before they are made available to APPPC members.

Rule 7. Language

The business of the APPPC Standards Committee shall be conducted in the English language.

Rule 8. Amendments

Amendments to the rules of procedures and terms of reference may be promulgated by the commission as required.

4. Guidelines for the submission of proposals for the development of Standards

The guidelines should be followed when submitting proposals for standard development:

Proposals are generally to be submitted by or through NPPOs
Proposals are to be sent to the APPPC secretariat - preferably by e-mail
Proposals should be in the form of a discussion paper

5. Guidelines for the discussion paper

The discussion paper submitted to the APPPC secretariat should contain as much as the following information as possible:

Subject/title of the proposed standard
Reason for the proposal
Importance to the region/potential benefit
Availability of resources (expertise, funds)
Background material
Area/scope of standard
Relationship to existing standards (international or other regions)
Executive summary

Procedure for the determination of priorities for standard setting

The procedure below should be followed in determining priorities for standard setting:

Priority determination will be undertaken at the commission meeting
The APPPC secretariat submits a list of proposals to the commission
APPPC members discuss the proposals taking account of the discussion papers

The commission will decide the priorities (using a Chairperson’s working group if required) using the following criteria:

(i) Priority standards should be relevant to developing countries and take account of the urgent need for standards to assist with an emergency phytosanitary situation, and

(ii) Other criteria that should be considered include:

Availability of expertise and resources to develop standard
Potential to increase safeguards for agriculture
Importance of the pest problem of region or sub region
Level of trade affected by non-existence of particular standards
Frequency of problem arising on regional basis
Feasibility of developing and implementing in a reasonable time period

7. Guidelines for a specification

The following subjects should be covered in the specification document:

Proposing of the standard:

Description of the purpose of the standard:

Scope
Tasks
Provision of resources
Proposed work programme
Steward
Collaborator
Expertise
Membership of the working group
Approval
References

8. Availability of specifications to members

The APPPC secretariat will use both post and e-mail (where available) to distribute draft specifications to members for comment. Specifications may be distributed along with draft standards of other subjects sent to APPPC members for consultation.

9. Guidelines for designation of members of working group

The APPPC Standards Committee with the assistance of the APPPC secretariat designates members of working groups using the following guidelines:

working group members should have expertise appropriate to the standard under development.
where possible a geographic spread of experts is desirable.
where appropriate, an expert from the APPPC member providing the proposal should be included in the working group.
expertise from outside the APPPC region may be included if required.
the number of experts in a working group is flexible and is decided by the APPPC Standards Committee.
normally the APPPC secretariat will convene the working group meeting.
when the experts are selected, the APPPC Standards Committee requests one expert to collect appropriate information and to chair the meeting.
the working group will make arrangements for its own report.
if the working group meeting is held outside Bangkok, a working group member will convene the meeting.
normally an APPPC working group would meet for three days.

10. Guidelines for the format of the standard

The following format should be used for APPPC regional standards:

Title page
Contents
Administration page
Introduction
Scope
References
Definitions and abbreviations
Outline
General/specific requirements

11. Checklist for in-country consultation

NPPOs may consider distributing draft standards to the following types of organizations/institutions to obtain input for the preparation of their national comments:

other government departments e.g.: Environment, Trade, Foreign Affairs, Public Health
universities, research institutions
stakeholders:

- industry associations
- grower bodies or federations
- export & import organizations
- other organizations concerned with or affected by the standard

The APPPC secretariat shall send a reminder notice to members requesting comments after 90 days.

12. Guidelines for submission of comments

APPPC members are provided 120 days to review the documents, consult on their content, and compile and submit comments through their NPPOs to the APPPC secretariat.

The following are guidelines for the submission of comments to ensure maximum benefit from the consultation process:

APPPC members are requested to submit only one set of comments for each standard.
Where diverse or conflicting suggestions are offered, the submission should indicate clearly the preference of the APPPC member.
General comments should be indicated as such. All other comments should be identified with the specific text or concept to which they refer.
All suggestions should be supported by an explanation of their purpose and alternative text should be proposed where appropriate. It is essential to ensure all comments and their rationale are clear.
Comments should be submitted to the APPPC secretariat as a printed document. Members may also submit their comments by e-mail to [email protected].

The APPPC secretariat encourages submissions as early as possible to facilitate the analysis of comments by the APPPC Standards Committee.

13. Procedures for adoption and review of standards

When draft standards are complete they will be put on the agenda of the next Commission meeting. Standards will be adopted by the commission by consensus (Article VIII of the revised Agreement).

The quorum will be a simple majority (Article V of the revised Agreement). Draft standards will be presented to the Commission by the Chair of the APPPC Standards Committee.

Standards will be reviewed when the APPPC Standards Committee requests this. The review would be placed on the list of proposals for the commission to determine the priorities for expert examination. If the standard is revised, it is then adopted according to the usual adoption procedure.

14. Clarification of the use of open-ended discussion groups

Open-ended discussion groups are used as follows:

The Open-ended discussion group is used as a means of clarifying issues concerning a standard with discussion by as many members as possible. Experts from outside the region may be invited.
An Open-ended discussion group can be established for this purpose at any stage of the development of a standard.
Open-ended discussion groups would be planned and managed by the APPPC Standards Committee and the APPPC secretariat.
The APPPC secretariat would convene the Open-ended discussion groups.

15. Guidelines for identifying an emergency situation

An emergency situation in this instance is regarded as a new or unexpected phytosanitary situation.

Such a situation could arise when:

an important pest not present in the region is intercepted repeatedly at a number of entry points.
there is an outbreak of an important pest outside the region (or non-members within the region) causing a need for precautionary action.
an important pest is found within the region in restricted areas.

Important pests are those that severely effect production, trade or the environment.

16. Review period

Standards shall be reviewed by the APPPC Standards Committee six years after adoption. If after review the APPPC Standards Committee decides a revision is required the standard will be placed on the list of standards to be prioritized by the commission for action.

A Standard may be reviewed earlier if the commission (as requested by an APPPC member) decides this is necessary.