Mr Piao Yongfan, Executive Secretary of the APPPC, reported on the activities of the secretariat and working groups since the 23rd session of the Commission.
2.1 Status of Plant Protection Agreement for Asia and the Pacific
There was no change in membership of the Asia and Pacific Plant Protection Commission. There are in total twenty-four (24) countries party to the Plant Protection Agreement of the Asia and Pacific region. Ten countries (Australia, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Republic of Korea and Sri Lanka) had accepted the amendment relating to the financing of the activities of the Commission, which was adopted in 1983. The acceptance by a further six countries (two-thirds) is necessary before the amendment could enter into force (Note: The amendment to the Agreement was transmitted to all Members, by the FAO Director-General in 1984).
As of 25 April 2005, out of the total 24 member countries of the APPPC, 19 were parties to the IPPC and 11 countries had accepted the 1997 Revision of IPPC. Since the 23rd session of the Commission, six countries have accepted the revision.
2.2 Status of the revised (1999) Plant Protection Agreement for Asia and the Pacific region
The revised Plant Protection Agreement for Asia and the Pacific region was approved by the FAO Council in 1999 and the certified true copies of its first set were transmitted to all APPPC members on 19 June 2000. Up to now, only the Philippines and Viet Nam have sent their instruments of acceptance to the FAO Legal Office. (However, Viet Nam's acceptance was not in the correct forms.)
During the 23rd session of APPPC, it was recommended that a site within the internet-based IPP be used as a site and a database for the Commission. This was implemented, and now every ICPM member has equal access to essential official phytosanitary information and is able to exchange official information electronically to meet their obligations under the IPPC and to facilitate decisions on phytosanitary issues. A Regional International Phytosanitary Portal Pilot Workshop for Asia and the Pacific was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 17 to 20 January 2005. The participants consisted of those responsible for information exchange in their respective National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) and those tasked with the input of relevant information in IPP. The portal (available at http://www.ippc.int) has been tested and designed to hold phytosanitary information including pest reports, description of the NPPOs, phytosanitary restrictions, points of entry with specific restrictions, list of regulated pests, emergency actions, official contact point details, non-compliance, organizational arrangements for plant protection, pest status and rationale for phytosanitary requirements. APPPC together with the Secretariat of IPPC and the Department of Agriculture of Malaysia organized a workshop on information exchange capacity building for the Asian region at the Institute of Biological Science, University of Malaya from 3 to 6 May 2005. The workshop was attended by 14 participants from 11 countries.
As part of its efforts to promote information exchange among member countries, the Commission has produced four publications, hard copies of which were already distributed to the member countries and are downloadable from the website (http://www.fao.org/world/regional/rap/). These publications include:
i. Report of the Expert Consultation on Coconut Beetle Outbreak in APPPC Member Countries (RAP Publication 2004/29),
ii. Regional Standards for Phytosanitary Measures. Training Requirements for Plant Quarantine Inspectors (RAP Publication 2004/24),
iii. Regional Standards for Phytosanitary Measures. Guidelines for the Development of Heat Disinfestations Treatments of Fruit Fly Host Commodities (RAP Publication 2004/23), and
iv. Report of the Twenty-Third Session of the APPPC (RAP Publication 2004/05).
In addition, the launching of the International Phytosanitary Portal by the Commission (https://www.ippc.int/IPP/En/default.jsp) has made available information about RSPMs, such as adopted RSPMs, draft RSPMs for country consultation, as well as other relevant reports.
Two workshops for Pest Risk Analysis (PRA) on South American Leaf Blight (SALB) were held in Malaysia in 2003 as part of the work plan of the FAO TCP project (TCP/RAS/0168A) for the Development of PRA for SALB of Hevea for the rubber growing countries in Asia. While a draft PRA on SALB was drafted at the workshop, several information gaps and additional areas for further research on SALB were identified for further improvement of the draft at the workshop. FAO had approved an extension of the implementation period to conduct studies on the information gaps for PRA of SALB, and one expert will be sent to Brazil to carry out the task for a period of three months in Brazil. A workshop will be organized in January 2006 to update Pest Risk Analysis based on the outcomes of the information obtained in Brazil.
2.3 Progress in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in Asia and the Pacific region
In the last two years, the IPM programme in Asia has undergone many changes that reflected the strength and sustainability of the approach adopted towards farmers' education. There are now more nationally funded programmes, more NGO operated programmes and additional inputs from international development agencies using IPM-FFS.
The FAO-EU IPM Programme for Cotton in Asia was completed on 31 December 2004. It had provided a culture of impact assessment, sustainable farmer groups, locally funded activities and recognition of environmental education for poor farmers to achieve rural poverty reduction, enhanced livelihood, sustainable development and food security. The Programme targeted small-scale cotton farmers using ecological processes covered in IPM-FFS curricula. FFS graduates reported significantly higher profits that contributed to better nutrition, children education and debt reduction, thereby ensuring a brighter future for their families. For example, the gross margin income of FFS farmers increased substantially by an average of US$ 175 per ha or 23 percent relative to the control groups. Over the same period, farmers taught skills in IPM reduced their pesticide costs by 46 percent.
In its first phase, the FAO Regional Vegetable IPM Programme in Asia promoted and supported IPM in vegetables by Asian smallholder farmers. Now into its second phase, the programme emphasizes vegetable IPM participatory training and research in the Greater Mekong Subregion. It will focus on helping participating countries to continue vegetable IPM beyond Phase II.
In the last two years, IPM activities were funded by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Thailand and Viet Nam. The European Union (EU) supported an IPM-FFS programme in the Wang Watershed Management Project in Bhutan. A bilateral IPM programme supported by Norway was initiated in Nepal. India and Pakistan have allocated budgets for national programmes in support of IPM activities in their respective countries. The Asian and Pacific Coconut Community based in Jakarta has initiated an IPM programme in coconut with funding from Common Funds for Commodities in which the IPM-FFS was selected for educating farmers in the management of rhinoceros beetle and the imported coconut mite. FAO provides technical support to this programme.
The continued interest of farmers' education in a technical field such as IPM by countries in Asia has encouraged FAO to work with regional entities such as the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). The ASEAN-FAO Programme on Quality Farmer Education for Poverty Alleviation and Market Competitiveness (ASEAN-FAO QFarmED) is an output of the first collaboration. With the support of SAARC, FAO has submitted a proposal on IPM Enhancement Programme for SAARC countries to be approved by the members.
The Expert Consultation on Coconut Beetle Outbreak in APPPC Member countries organized by FAO in Bangkok from 26 to 27 October 2004 and a follow up Asia-Pacific Forest Invasive Species Network Workshop organized by FAO in Ho Chi Minh City from 22 to 25 February 2005, recognized the importance of farmers' education with introduction of exotic parasitoids to sustain the biological control of the invasive pest species Brontispa longissima (Gestro).
2.4 Implementation of the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticide in International Trade and the International Code of Conduct on Distribution and Use of Pesticides
The Convention entered into force on 24 February 2004. To date, 41 chemicals are included in Annex III of the Convention, and are subject to the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedure. As of 8 August 2005, there were ten parties out of the total 24 member countries of APPPC. Since the 23rd Session of APPPC, eight member countries (Australia, China, DPR Korea, France, India, New Zealand and Republic of Korea) had accepted the Convention. A number of regional and national activities on technical assistance had been carried out by the Rotterdam Convention Secretariat in cooperation with the FAO Regional Office and their national counterparts. In March 2004, the Asian Regional Training Workshop on the Operational Procedure of the Rotterdam Convention was held with 47 participants from 17 countries. The Secretariat of the Rotterdam Convention attended the meeting of the ASEAN working group on Multilateral Environmental Agreement (MEA) (9th Session, in May 2005), with an additional session to promote the ratification and implementation of the Convention. In December 2004 and April 2005 national consultations on the ratification and implementation of the Rotterdam Convention were undertaken in China and Sri Lanka. China has ratified the Convention in March 2005, while Sri Lanka has initiated the ratification process after the consultation.
The Regional Workshop on International Code of Conduct on the Distribution and Use of Pesticides: Implementation, Monitoring and Observance was held in Bangkok, Thailand, from 26 to 28 July 2005. Attended by 18 of the APPPC member countries, the workshop discussed the new provisions of the Code of Conduct which was revised in 2002 to strengthen its guidance to reduce the adverse effects of pesticides on health and the environment and to support sustainable agricultural practices. The participants assessed the status of the implementation of the revised Code and identified needs, priorities and emerging issues at the country level. The workshop delegates carefully reviewed the draft guidelines on monitoring and observance of the revised version of the Code. Suggestions were made to further improve the questionnaire. The delegates endorsed the 12 findings to strengthen the implementation of the Code of Conduct.
2.5 Progress in the Implementation of Plant Quarantine in Asia and the Pacific region
The topics of Guidelines for Pest Free Areas for Fruit Flies and Guidelines for Determination of Non-host Fruit Fly Status were identified as priorities for regional standard setting for phytosanitary measures during the 23rd Session of APPPC. The APPPC working group discussed the standards and revised the former titles of the draft RSPM No. 3 and RSPM No. 4 to Requirements for the Establishment and Maintenance of Pest Free Areas for Tephritid Fruit Flies and Guidelines for the Confirmation of Non-host Status of Fruit and Vegetables to Fruit Flies Using Host Status Tests respectively during a "Working Group Meeting on Draft Regional Standards for Phytosanitary Measures", which was held in Bangkok from 27 to 30 September 2004. These two draft standards were reviewed at the meeting of the APPPC Standards Committee, which was held in Bangkok, Thailand, from 14 to 16 February 2005. The draft RSPMs were later distributed to APPPC members for their comments, and several were submitted by some countries. The updated draft standards would be submitted to this session for further review and adoption.
The Regional Training Workshops on the International Standards, Pest Risk Analysis and Phytosanitary Capacity Evaluation (PCE) were held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 19 to 30 July 2004 and 19 to 29 July 2005 respectively. Attended by representatives from 11 countries and CABI, the workshops were part of FAO's Programme to promote capacity building in plant health and to coordinate the implementation of phytosanitary measures as applied to international and regional trade. Training was provided to enable the participants to input necessary information - country's background on phytosanitary capacity and the conducted exercises on the standards to evaluate the NPPO capacity (ISPM No. 6 on Guidelines for Surveillance and ISPM No. 7 on Export Certification were used as examples for these exercises). The participants successfully carried out the exercise on PRA with the PCE Tools, and significantly increased their fundamental knowledge/information on ISPMs and other phytosanitary aspects.
The Fifth APPPC Regional Workshop for the Review of Draft International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures was held in Bangkok from 23 to 27 August 2004. The workshop was attended by representatives from 20 countries and the IPPC Secretariat. The workshop reviewed the six draft ISPMs. The meeting recommended that the draft standards on the guidelines for inspection of consignments and the requirements for the establishment, maintenance and verification of areas of low pest prevalence, were returned to the working groups for redrafting. The reviewed draft ISPMs were discussed at the 7th Interim Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (ICPM) which was held in Rome, Italy, from 3 to 9 April 2005. As a result, three new ISPMs and two revised ISPMs were adopted. The Sixth Regional Workshop for the Review of Six Draft International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs) will be held in Thailand from 10 to 14 September 2005, and five draft ISPMs will be reviewed.
In conclusion, Mr Piao extended his appreciation to Dr Niek Van der Graaff, Chief of Plant Protection Service and IPPC Secretary, Executive Secretary of PIC, FAO Rome for his strong support and backstopping to the APPPC. He also thanked Dr John Hedley for his kind assistance and contributions to APPPC during the past years and his devotion to the development of APPPC Regional Standard for Phytosanitary Measures. He also appreciated his Malaysian counterparts for their special inputs to APPPC. Malaysia provided extensive support to the APPPC training activities during the past two years as a chair-country of the 23rd Session of APPPC.
2.6 Discussion on the Executive Secretary's Report
2.6.1 Expansion of the APPPC
To a proposal put forward by the delegates to expand the membership to APPPC, the Executive Secretary suggested that an application be made by any interested party to IPPC, Rome.
2.6.2 Status of revised text of APPPC
The delegates were informed of the status of the revised text of APPPC and that only two countries had forwarded acceptances.
The Executive Secretary's report was endorsed by the Session.
