The Plant Protection Agreement for the Asia and Pacific Region (formerly the Plant Protection Agreement for South-East Asia and Pacific Region), which was approved by the 23rd Session of the FAO Council in November 1955 and entered into force on 2 July 1956, is an intergovernmental treaty and administered by the Asia and Pacific Plant Protection Commission (APPPC). The Commission, according to its provisions, convenes at least once every two years and is open to participation by all member countries.
The Twenty-fourth Session of the FAO Asia and Pacific Plant Protection Commission (APPPC) was convened in Bangkok from 5 to 9 September 2005 to review the activities of the Commission carried out in the past two years and to review the overall plant protection situation at national and regional levels followed by discussion and adoption of two Regional Standards of Phytosanitary Measures (RSPMs) as well as identification of the work programme of APPPC for 2006-2007. This document presents the final report of the Session.
During the last biennium, the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and its intergovernmental technical body - APPPC - have been involved in several significant programmes dealing with major areas of plant protection in the region. The Commission has been very active in enhancing capacity building and information exchange among member countries on aspects of phytosanitory measures in line with the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) and Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures of WTO, pesticide management following the FAO Code of Conduct and Rotterdam Convention as well as extension of integrated pest management to major crops of the region.
It is expected that the activities planned for the next two years and the actions taken on the recommendations will further enhance cooperation and the capacity of member countries to deal with various phytosanitary issues in this era of globalization. It will amplify regional cooperation in other aspects of plant protection as well. The firm commitments and concrete actions by all governments of the member countries are required in order to achieve common goals in agricultural and rural development towards the Millennium Development Goal of halving world hunger by 2015.
He Changchui
Assistant Director-General and
FAO Regional Representative for
Asia and the Pacific
