3.1 Australia
Biosecurity Australia (BA) was established as a prescribed Agency on 1 December 2004 and Mr John Cahill was appointed as Chief Executive. A new position of Principal Scientist has been created.
BA consists of three Branches, namely Animal Biosecurity, Plant Biosecurity and Business Development and Communication Branch. Responsibility for managing the technical aspects of BA's work continues to reside in the Animal and Plant Biosecurity Branches.
In 2004, the Australian Government announced the creation of the Eminent Scientist Group (ESG). The role of the ESG is to consider BA's treatment of stakeholder comments on draft import risk analysis reports, to ensure that they have been adequately addressed.
Australia implemented ISPM No. 15 on 1 September 2004 for imported containerized cargo and plans to implement ISPM No. 15 for imported break bulk and air cargo on 1 January 2006. Australia has maintained its requirements for bark freedom and is finalizing its technical justification for retaining this measure.
Plant Biosecurity is currently undertaking a number of import risk analyses and policy reviews, namely:
i. Apples from New Zealand
ii. Bananas from the Philippines
iii. Table grapes from Chile
iv. Citrus from Florida
v. Limes from New Caledonia
vi. Unshu mandarins from Japan
vii. Coniferous timber from the US, Canada and New Zealand
viii. Mangoes from India
ix. Pears from additional Provinces in China
x. Durian segments from Thailand
xi. New Zealand stone fruit to Western Australia
xii. Cereal seeds for sowing from New Zealand
xiii. Pears from additional Provinces in Korea
Australia has a number of pest free areas, particularly in relation to Queensland Fruit Fly and Mediterranean Fruit Fly. Tasmania is free of fruit flies and areas of Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia form the Tri-State Fruit Fly Free Area. Australia has a Code of Practice for the management of fruit flies and this is currently under review.
The most significant recent outbreak of an exotic pest in Australia has been citrus canker in the Emerald district of Queensland. Surveys conducted throughout Australia have confirmed that this disease is limited to the Emerald area.
Plant Biosecurity has conducted International Pest Risk Analysis Workshops each year. Other areas of the Department, such as the Office of the Chief Plant Protection Officer also undertake capacity building projects.
Australia proposes the development of an RSPM for managing the risk of entry of scale insects. Scale insects are regularly encountered on the pathways for the movement of fruit and vegetables and it is considered desirable to align the pest risk analysis for this group of pests among regional countries.
3.2 Bangladesh
Agriculture is the backbone of Bangladesh and contributes about one-third to the gross domestic product (GDP). Approximately 84 percent of the countries total population is directly or indirectly dependent on the agriculture sector of which 57 percent is engaged in the crop subsector above. Rice is the most important crop accounting for 82 percent of the cropped area. The other major crops are jute, wheat, sugarcane, potato, pulses, and oil seeds, fruits, vegetables, cotton and tea.
The climate of the country is very conductive for rapid multiplication of pests and diseases. Insect pests damage different kinds of crops significantly every year. Several methods of pest control are being practiced to combat the pest incidence, but IPM approaches are being given more emphasis for the management of pests.
Under the Ministry of Agriculture the Department of Agricultural Extension, Plant Protection is a Wing consisting of four sections, namely
i. Operation
ii. Pesticide Administration and Quality Control
iii. Plant Quarantine
iv. Surveillance, Forecasting & Early Warning
Under the supervision of the Director, Plant Protection Wing, "Strengthening Plant Protection Services Project" (SPPS) has been implemented since 1997. Under this project, The Project Director (PD) works with the support officers like Deputy Director (IPM), Deputy Director (V.P.C), Assistant Director (IPM), Entomologist, Plant Pathologist and others.
A SPPS in Bangladesh achieved success in the introduction of IPM in the country and created enormous impetus and interest among farmers, extension functionaries, policy level officers, research workers and politicians. The IPM activities under the project operated in 201 upazilas of 64 districts. The training of farmers (male and female) in rice and vegetable IPM was the main thrust of the project. The farmers' training was done through FFSs. A total of 8 500 FFSs would be established during the component period, and 212 500 farmers will receive practical, field orientation and season long training in IPM of rice and vegetables. The component will assist the DAE in the development of a Strategy and Action Plan for the implementation of the National IPM Policy. Some of the major tasks of the component include the development of 1 300 farmer trainers (FTs), establishment of 7 800 IPM clubs, work on biological control for rice hispa, bringal shoot and fruit borer, and demonstrations on organic farming.
Plant Quarantine activities have been strengthened with the establishment of additional Plant Quarantine out-stations to safeguard the country from the entry of exotic pests and diseases associated with the imported plants and plant products. The existing "Plant Quarantine Rule, 1966" was updated in July 1989. Furthermore, the Plant Quarantine Acts have been updated in 2004 as per Seed Rules of Bangladesh. An additional new four out-posts will be established to strengthen land border Plant Quarantine activities.
The registration of pesticides was regulated by the existing "The Pesticide Ordinance, 1971" and "The Pesticide Rules, 1985". An attempt was made to review existing pesticides found harmful to the environment and fishery for the purpose of registration/banning. There are nine pesticide formulation plants in the country. About 50 percent of the total pesticides were imported as finished product. In the Plant Protection Wing, a pesticide laboratory is available for testing the physical properties and active ingredient (AI).
The Rodent Control Campaign was organized in 1983 to create awareness among the general public regarding the menace of rats and to develop encouragement for timely control measures. Through this campaign rat damages have been reduced considerably.
3.3 Cambodia
The Plant Protection Service of the Department of Agronomy and Agricultural Land Improvement has four activities:
i. Research on pest problem on major crops
ii. Plant quarantine
iii. Pesticide analysis
iv. Pest control and extension
The first three activities have research and regulatory functions. IPM focused more on farmers through their participation in Farmer Field Schools. Plant protection activities focused mainly on three areas, that is, insect, disease, and weed management.
The pest damage on rice and especially on vegetable production was the main constraint for Cambodian farmers. Outbreaks of brown plant hopper, armyworms, grasshopper (Locusta) and rats were reported for rice in 1998, 1999 and 2000. Numerous insect pests, diseases and weeds were known to pose serious obstacles to crop production in Cambodia.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries initiated the IPM Programme in 1993 after a National Workshop on "Environment and IPM". The overall goal of the National IPM Programme was to promote food security in Cambodia by enhancing the sustainability of intensified crop production systems through the promotion of Integrated Pest and Crop Management skills at farm level. The National IPM Programme was structured under the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Department of Agronomy and Agricultural Land Improvement was responsible for the implementation. The programme is now working in 14 major agricultural production provinces.
In 2003 there were new subdecrees on phytosanitary inspection (No. 15 dated 13 March 2003) which were being re-enforced and re-implemented. Eighteen check points were designated at the seaport, airport and entry points located along the land border with Thailand and Viet Nam.
Nowadays, in Cambodia, no pesticides are produced. Most of the pesticides (almost 98 percent) available in local markets and used by farmers were extremely hazardous or very hazardous (class Ia and Ib, based on WHO classification).
The plant protection office was supported by Agricultural Productivity Improvement Project (APIP), NZAID, AusAid and FAO.
3.4 China
Plant protection plays key roles in sustaining agricultural production, ensuring food security, improving farmers' income and health, and protecting the environment. The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) takes great effort in reinforcing the infrastructures of the plant protection extension networks. Over the period 2003-2004, 103 new regional crop pest monitoring and control stations, 157 emergent control stations for migratory locust and wheat stripe rust, and three agro-airports have been constructed with a total investment of US$ 89.47 million. The subsidy of the control of migratory locusts and pawn moth by the Central Government has been implemented for a long time, with an annual allocation of about US$ 5 million. A recent development is the establishment of financial supports from the Central Government for the control of major pests in grain crops. The Central Government allocated US$ 1.2 million for the control of wheat stripe rust in 2002, US$ 6.1 million for rice borers and US$ 1.2 million for rodent control in 2003. The total financial support for controlling wheat stripe rust, rice borers and rodents from the Central Government has been increased to US$ 9.5 million in 2003 and US$ 16.2 million in 2004.
Outbreaks of some major crop pests as a result of changes in cropping systems, global climate and crop varieties in the past two years has posed a great challenge to Chinese plant protection workers. The annual incidences of major crop pests (including insects, diseases, rodents and weeds) has increased to about 417 million hectare times in 2003 and 421 million hectare times in 2004. Among the most destructive and seriously occurring were migratory locusts (Locust migratoria) in the beach deserts along the coastlines of Chinese Bei and Yellow seas, wheat stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis) in northwestern China, rice stem borers (Chilo suppressalis and Scripophaga incertulas) in the paddy fields of the Yangtze and Huai river valleys.
Regional actions were coordinated by the National Agro-technical Extension and Service Center (NATESC) of the MOA for the control of migratory pests: locusts, pawn moth, rice brown hopper, rice leaf roller, and regionally epidemical diseases: wheat stripe rust, rice blast and rice sheath blight. Annual control of major crop pests reached 434.7 million hectare times in 2003 and 465.7 million hectare times in 2004. National IPM programmes coordinated by NATESC have supported the implementation of key IPM technology in major crops and major pests. In the case of migratory locust management, biological and ecological control measures such as the use of microorganisms and the reclamation of locust habitats were extensively promoted in recent years. Information technology such as Global Information System (GIS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) has been explored and applied in locust control. In wheat, bio-diversity strategies were used in reducing the over-summer areas of wheat stripe rust pathogens, and seed treatments with fungicides were extended on a large scale to reduce disease inoculum of the next season. In rice, IPM technology was applied to over 1.5 million hectares in 2003 and 1.67 million hectares in 2004 for the control of rice stem borers. Bio-diversity strategies were implemented on 6.67 million hectares for rice blast management. In cotton, the transgenic Bt cotton adapted IPM technology was extended to 1.3 million hectares in 2004. In corn, biological technologies such as the use of Beauveria bassiana for killing over-winter larvae of corn borer, and the release of Trichogramma spp. in fields have been extended to more than 2 million hectares since 2003. The introduction of the FAO-supported IPM programmes has resulted in shifts in China towards a farmer-centered approach through FFS.
Several governmental agencies in China co-act as NPPO; including the MOA, State Forestry Administration and General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine. A work plan was developed by the MOA to adapt relevant ISPMs and RSPMs to national standards, and relevant proposals have been approved by the State Standard Committee. According to the requirements of the ISPMs, experts were invited to conduct PRAs for revising the regulated pest list since 2002. The regulated pest list was drafted and will be further evaluated. The national phytosanitary information website is under construction. NATESC provided training to senior plant quarantine specialists. Three isolation and quarantine nurseries located in Beijing, Guandong and Sichuan were built by the Ministry of Agriculture to detect and prevent the invasion of new quarantine pests. A pilot project on the establishment of pest free areas in apple cultivation strictly conforming to the ISPMs is being implemented in Gansu, Shannxi and Shandong.
The Regulation on Pesticide Administration was issued as Principal Law in China on 8 May 1997 by the State Council. The Regulation was revised to meet the requirements of WTO in 2003. At present, there are all kinds of formulation standards of pesticide products. Sixty-six national standards have been developed in China, including 175 industry standards and 10 000 enterprise product quality standards. Until now, 800 pesticide factories with 19 000 products were registered, and among them about 900 were imported products. About 1 000 pesticide products were registered annually in 2003 and 2004. China signed the final text of Rotterdam Convention (PIC) in October 1998 and started the ratification procedure in 2003. It was officially approved by the National People's Congress (NPC) in December 2004 and submitted to the headquarters of the United Nations on 22 March 2005. It became effective 90 days after submission according to UN regulations, and China became a formal signatory State on 20 June 2005. In order to ensure safe grain production and public health, China embarked on the replacement of highly toxic pesticides like Methamidophos, Parathion, Parathion-methyl, Monocrotophos and Phosphamidon during 2005-2007. All of them will be banned on 1st January 2007. Great efforts have been taken in the development of bio-pesticides for the replacement of highly toxic chemical pesticides as well. Over 100 types of bio-pesticides including 2 animal-sourced pesticides, 28 botanical pesticides, 16 microbial pesticides, and 50 antibiotic pesticides were registered. Annual production of bio-pesticides has increased to about 100 000 tons.
The MOA launched a specific programme to promote the reduction of pesticide usage in 2004. The programme focused on the training of farmers and field demonstrations of IPM technology to reduce pesticide applications. A monitoring network of pest resistance to pesticides has been set up, and resistances of major crop pests such as cotton bollworm, rice stem borer, cabbage diamond back moth, and citrus red spider mite were being screened by the 50 regional stations. Results of pest resistance monitoring were released regularly at an interval of two years to provide guidance for crop pest management. A national programme on resistance management of rice stem borer commenced since 2003. Nationwide farmer training on safe use of pesticides was organized by NATESC in cooperation with the CropLife China (a non government organization).
Large international cooperation programmes were implemented on rice, cotton and vegetable IPM. So far, more than 20 TOTs and 30 000 FFSs in rice have been carried out, and a total of more than 600 facilitators and 100 000 farmers were trained in rice in Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan, Henan, Anhui, Zhejiang, Guangdong Provinces. Eight ToFs and 1 061 FFSs in cotton were held in Shandong, Anhui, Hubei, Sichuan and Henan Provinces in 2000 and 2004, also 245 government, 197 farmer facilitators and over 30 000 cotton farmers were trained. In addition, there were four more projects related to IPM: evaluation of Bt cotton supported by China, UK and CAB International, the cotton bollworm control in small scale farming system by EC and ICAC, monitoring migratory rice pest by Sino-South Korea, and control of migratory locusts by Sino-Kazakhstan.
3.5 The Democratic People's Republic of Korea
The state policy requirements of the plant protection organization of DPR Korea has been to establish regular systems, rules and order in boundary inspection, quarantine, to overcome departmentalism, to ensure unity in activities of the interrelated bodies and to streamline the frontier regulations to enable rapid clearance at border points.
There have been some advantages from the merging of boundary inspection. Considerable material, financial and personnel reserves have been obtained through management of the newly merged service. In addition, there is coordination of plans and activities secured to overcome and correct abnormalities by departmentalism and irresponsibility.
One of the problems encountered has been the difficulties in sustaining administrative and technical activity as required by international standards and recommendations. Meanwhile, there is also a shortage of expertise in maintaining regular systems and rules for command, and control over the implementation of supplementary measures.
DPR Korea cultivates selected high-yielding crops every year. The outbreaks of major pests differ in intensity and time.
A series of measures to improve and strengthen IPM have been implemented:
i. Training and technology education have been set up for integrated management of pests.
ii. Preliminary surveys and early warning systems have been established as a part of pest control strategy.
iii. An IPM biological control method has been applied, but has not been increased.
iv. The introduction of "right crop on right soil" and "right crop on right period" has produced useful yield increases.
There have been no changes in the National Plant Protection Organization or its laws. However, an additional proposal on the international and regional standards was submitted. Basic data for drawing a distribution map of non-phytosanitary pest free areas will be published in one to two years. There were also suggestions to supply information collected for one to two years copied on CD to member countries. There was a lack of urgency to increase the phytosanitary capacity, and lack of opportunities for training.
The standards pesticide applied in DPR Korea promulgated in regulations on pesticide control issued as Administration Council Directive No. 78 on 12 May 1992. Over recent years, there has been increased attention on the production and introduction of biological and botanical pesticides.
DPR Korea proposes to adopt detailed procedures and methods through the "International Code of Conduct" in supplying and using pesticides, standardize the specifications of trade marks in national and international official languages, and cooperate better in advances in cultivation of Streptomyces avermitillis.
3.6 Fiji Islands
The contribution of the Quarantine and Inspection Division to improve the livelihood of Fiji's rural population and alleviate poverty was through the enforcement of the monitoring and surveillance regulatory services, and the empowering of the general and traveling public to protect Fiji's natural resources (plants and animals) and its environment for agriculture and other economic/social developments.
The Division was responsible for facilitating the increase in the export of Fiji's agricultural fresh produce and processed products and the provision of monitoring and surveillance regulatory services to effectively manage the quarantine risks associated with imports into Fiji.
The review of Fiji's Plant Quarantine Act 1985 was aimed at aligning the Act with the WTO principles and SPS requirements and would be completed in 2005.
With the decline in the sugar industry and the boom in the tourism sector, Fiji's agriculture sector must be vibrant, dynamic and constantly evolving to keep pace with the increasing challenges and promotion of the transition from traditional production to commercialization of the markets. This transition required an IPM approach to control pests whilst maintaining the food safety and quality standards for the markets.
The re-organization of the Quarantine and Inspection Division encompassed the review of Legislation, cost recovery exercise, establishment of the National Biosecurity and Export Advisory Council, National Plant Protection Organization and the overall strengthening of the division in terms of facilities, staffing and resources, to effectively play its critical roles and successfully meet the challenges ahead.
3.7 India
India is an agrarian country. Plant protection involved protection of agriculture from pests and diseases through promotion of IPM, regulatory measures to prevent introduction of exotic pests/diseases, ensuring availability of safe and quality pesticides and bio-pesticides, and training of extension functionaries in plant protection and locust control in the scheduled desert areas.
The Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine and Storage under the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India is the National Plant Protection Organization exclusively devoted to plant protection services in the country. In the States, Plant Protection exists from the block level upwards. At the State Headquarters, the Plant Protection work is attended to by a Joint Director (Plant Protection).
At the national level, major emphasis is given to the promotion of Integrated Pest Management to minimize the use of harmful pesticides. Under this programme, farmers were trained through FFSs to grow healthy crops and manage pests/diseases with need-based use of chemical pesticides. To encourage the bio-pesticide industry, the data requirement for registration of bio-pesticides has been simplified and commercialization of all such bio-pesticides was allowed during the period of provisional registration.
Through regulatory measures, the Government encouraged the import of elite varieties of seeds and planting materials for increasing production and productivity of various crops. All imports of plants and plant materials were based on pest risk assessments. In order to harmonize the phytosanitary activities in line with international standards, a total of 19 standards were developed and 15 of them have already been adopted. In order to give a boost to the export and import of agricultural commodities, five laboratories with modern facilities have been established at four regional plant quarantine stations, namely, Mumbai, Kolkata, Amritsar, Chennai and one at the national plant quarantine station, New Delhi. Similar facilities were proposed at more stations.
3.8 Indonesia
Pest infestation is still an essential limiting factor for crop production in Indonesia. Although a number of efforts have been made to solve this problem, serious damages caused by pest attacks are still reported from some crop production areas.
During the past two years (2003 and 2004), rat, stem borer, brown plant hopper, tungro and blast disease were reported to cause damage on rice farms. Areas damaged by those pests were 189 193 ha in 2003 and 180 804 ha in 2004. Estimated yield losses caused by those pests were 139 875 tons in 2003 and 140 570 tons in 2004.
Bacterial leaf blight, golden snail, and locust were also reported to cause damage on rice farms. Areas damaged by bacterial leaf blight reached 25 403 ha in 2003 and 37 229 ha in 2004. Golden snail damaged young rice plants in many provinces. The area damaged was 13 227 ha in 2003 and 16 737 ha in 2004, whereas the area of locust infestation was 318 ha in 2003 and 5 383 in 2004.
Some other important crops which were also reported to suffer from serious pest attacks during the past two years were corn (damages were mainly caused by rat, powdery mildew, stem borer, army worm, pod borer, leaf blight, locust and rice seedling flies), soybean (damages were mainly caused by army worm, pod borer, rat leaf roller, bean fly and green semi-loopers), peanut (major pests reported were army worm, leaf roller, brown spot, wild pig, rat and leaf rust), mung bean (major pests reported include, bean fly, rat and army worm), cassava (major pests reported were red spider mite, rat, and brown spot), potato (major pests reported were red spider mite, rat, and brown spot), potato (major pests reported was golden cyst nematode), sweet potato (major pests reported were tuber borer, rat, and wild pig), banana (major pests reported was wilt disease), citrus (major pest reported was fruit flies), rambutan (major pest reported was leaf caterpillar), cocoa (major pest reported was cocoa pod borer) and pepper (major pest reported was basal rot disease).
To cope with the pest problem, crop protection was practiced through the application of IPM at the farm level. This IPM system included periodic and intensive monitoring of the pest population, the use of resistant varieties, the implementation of the cropping system, the use of biological control agents, and other environmentally friendly control methods. Pesticides would only be used when other control measures were considered no longer effective. In line with the IPM policy, the Government of Indonesia banned the use of 36 pesticide chemicals and restricted the use of four others.
Changes were made to the Plant Quarantine Organization recently. Under the new setup, the Agricultural Quarantine Agency (AQA) was mandated to perform the enforcement of food safety and biosafety regulations at the entry and exit points. At the national level, this work would be managed by the Information and Biosecurity Centre, a new unit under the AQA. The Centre for Animal and Plant Quarantine Techniques and Methods, a former unit under the AQA, was dissolved and its functions transferred to the Animal Quarantine Centre and Plant Quarantine Centre, respectively. With these new structural changes, AQA now consists of three centres, namely the Animal Quarantine Centre, the Plant Quarantine Centre, and the Information and Biosecurity Centre, and a Secretariat.
3.9 Lao People's Democratic Republic
In Lao PDR, plant protection played an essential role in implementing the policies of the Government, as well as that of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, especially regarding the policies on clean agricultural production, poverty eradication, agricultural commodity production for export, open market for ASEAN Free Trade Area and the readiness of Lao PDR to enter the World Trade Organization.
The plant protection activities which were carried out during the past two years (2003-2005) have faced many problems and constraints such as lack of skilled personnel who are specialized in subject matters, especially in entomology, mycology and virology. The network of the plant protection at the central and local levels has also not yet been strengthened while infrastructure, especially laboratory facilities, have been considerably low. Legal work has not yet been improved, such as regulations on plant protection and plant quarantine.
Other than the above-mentioned problems and constraints, the occurrence of natural disasters was a significant problem and constraint for agriculture in Lao PDR. Every year, agricultural production was severely devastated by drought, flood and pest outbreaks. The severe outbreaks of major pests over the past two years, causing serious damage, were as follows: coffee berry borer and coconut hispine beetles (Brontispa longissima Gestoro).
Since 2004, the IPM project has conducted research on the prevention and control of coconut hispine beetle by using biological control such as the rearing and releasing of parasitoids (Asecodes hispinarum) for attacking the eggs and worms of coconut hispine beetle in two provinces (Bolikhamxay and Savannaket).
Plant quarantine played an important role in the support of national agricultural production for export. In recent years, the Department of Agriculture has improved the diseases and pests database and information system for phytosanitary certification, revised the framework and functioning of international plant quarantine checking points, announced orders on the control of coffee berry borer in three southern provinces and coconut hispine beetle in Savannaket and Bolikhamxay Provinces. Currently, the Law on Plant Protection and Quarantine is being prepared and supported by FAO and AusAid. In addition, the Regulation on Organic Farming Standard was submitted to the Scientific and Technology Council of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
At present, there were 100 brand names of pesticides registered with DOA, consisting of 75 products from Viet Nam and 25 from Thailand.
3.10 Malaysia
Over the past two years (2003-2004), pest infestation for most of the major agricultural crops in Malaysia has decreased and is under control without significant losses due to improvements in cultivation practices and good pest management.
IPM programmes on rice and vegetables were actively implemented by the Department of Agriculture (DOA) in collaboration with various stakeholders. In the year 2004, DOA conducted a total of 18 IPM training sessions for 471 extension officers. Over 2 500 farmers were trained on IPM practices both formally and informally during the farmers' meeting sessions.
Recently, the organizational structure of the Department of Agriculture of Malaysia has undergone a restructuring exercise, whereby the NPPO has also been restructured to meet the current trend and the changing international trade scenario. In addition, the Government promugulated a new law plant quarantine law to replace the existing one to be consistent with and aligned to the SPS Agreement, IPPC and International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs). During the last two years, Malaysia has succeeded in spearheading bilateral meetings or discussions for market access with several countries which were "not approachable" before because of stringent phytosanitary requirements.
In Malaysia, the legal framework for the control and management of pesticides was already in place. Legislation related to these controls were enforced and implemented by various government agencies and were well coordinated.
Finally, Malaysia has been very active and supportive of International Cooperation Projects and Programmes for Plant Protection beginning from 2003 until today. It has successfully hosted a number of international/regional workshops and training sessions.
3.11 Myanmar
Myanmar has tried to keep abreast with other nations in the field of Plant Protection. To meet the international standards, the Plant Protection Division has undertaken its responsibilities with the cooperation of member countries of the regional organization, APPPC.
There were rodent outbreaks in the northern parts of Myanmar, but they were not of economic importance. Biological control research, working as part of Integrated Pest Management programme, was carried out for cotton, groundnut and vegetables.
FFS were established since the year 2000 for rice farmers. Expansion was planned for some plant quarantine stations in this period, and electronic certification was launched at the end of the year 2002 at the Yangon Head office and from 2004 at Tamu.
Pesticide Management works were progressing steadily, and consisted of a registration scheme, licensing programme, controlling of Persistent Organic Pollutants, disposal of toxic wastes, and also managing transboundary movement of illegal products.
3.12 Nepal
In Nepal, the Plant Protection Directorate (PPD) was designated as the NPPO and has a national mandate to minimize by 35 percent crop losses due to insect and vertebrate pests through the application of intensive technology and Integrated Pest Management. Presently, 139 officer level facilitators, 535 farmer trainers, 1 000 FFS and 27 500 farmers have already been trained to act as a catalyst in spreading the IPM message.
Some of the major pest outbreaks since 2000 were: Nilaparvata lugens, Spodoptera spp., Helicoverpa armigera, Hieroglyphus spp. and Pyricularia oryzea, in sugarcane, rice and maize.
The plant protection infrastructure has been upgraded with an additional Pesticide Registration and Management Section, and the National Plant Quarantine Programme structure was upgraded with eight new additional check posts in the north and south land border.
The new Plant Protection Bill (2005) is in the process of approval to be in consistent with IPPC guidelines, Protocols and the WTO/SPS Agreement.
The National Plant Quarantine Programme (NPQP) has developed a national standard CTV/CGD survey manual (ISPM No. 6), a pest database and preliminary database of 20 tradable crops, a pest risk analysis of maize grain seed (ISPM No. 2), initial work on pest free areas (ISPM No. 4), and conducted training for plant health inspectors (RSPM No. 2).
Pesticides were registered and regulated under the Pesticide Act, 1991 and Pesticide Rules, 1993. The Act regulated the import, manufacture, sale, transport, distribution and use of pesticides to prevent risk to human beings, animals and related matters. The Act established a Pesticide Registration Agency and its functions and powers were to register pesticides by issuing import certificates, ascertaining the criteria for effective, rational and appropriate use of pesticides, gazette registered pesticides, issuance of licenses for the purpose of formulation, import or distribution of pesticides and the appointment of Pesticide Inspectors.
Nepal has already banned Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) pesticides (Chlordane, DDT, Dieldrin, Endrin, Aldrin, Heptachlor, Mirex and Toxaphene). The use of BHC, Lindane and Organo-Mercury Compounds: Methoxyethyl Mercury Chloride (MEMC), Ethyl Mercury Chloride (EMC), Phenyl Mercury Acetate (PMA), Phenyl Mercury Chloride (PMC) have been banned because of their persistent nature in the environment.
3.13 New Zealand
Since the last session of the APPPC, New Zealand has continued to develop and refine its biosecurity system. In May 2004, MAF confirmed its intention to restructure its Biosecurity Authority on a "points of intervention" approach based on three streams of activity - pre-clearance, post-clearance and cross-system integration. The restructuring led to the formation of Biosecurity New Zealand, which started operation on 1 November 2004. The establishment of Biosecurity New Zealand has resulted in improved coordination between the departments involved in biosecurity and the consolidation of some central government biosecurity services within MAF, which is officially the lead agency.
Biosecurity New Zealand develops policy and sets standards for the clearance of vessels, aircraft, passengers, cargo and mail. The delivery of the clearance service is provided by MAF Quarantine Service, which is an operational service within MAF.
The Biosecurity Act 1993 is the principal legislation for the exclusion, eradication and management of pests in New Zealand. The Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996, administered by the Ministry for the Environment, provides for the prevention or management of the adverse affects of new organisms entering New Zealand.
New Zealand continues to develop and review import health standards in accordance with the Biosecurity Act, based on pest risk assessment. Since the 23rd Session of the APPPC, New Zealand has developed a number of import health standards for plants and plant products.
A number of exotic organisms associated with plants were recorded as new to New Zealand by MAF for the period November 2003 - June 2005. MAF has officially responded to the presence of some of these organisms.
New Zealand is active in the development, implementation and promotion of international and regional standards. New Zealand bases its phytosanitary measures and own quarantine and operational standards on the International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures.
3.14 Pakistan
In Pakistan, the major insect pests include bollworms, white flies, aphids and jassids, cutworm, stem borers, codling moth, and fruit flies. The major diseases include rusts, foliar spots, root and crown rots, leaf curl and bunchy top viruses, powdery mildew, and malformation etc. Wild oats and Phalaris were the notorious weed. Moreover, pests in stores, yards and on trade commodities were encountered.
The plant protection methods were regulatory, cultural, mechanical and chemical. The biological and genetic control methods, although being used, remain to be exploited. IPM in cotton and rice has given good results and was expanded to cover more crops and areas. With the exception of a few acres of aerial spraying over orchards in Baluchistan, all the plant protection operations were carried out by the private sector.
The pest infestation picture was the same as in the previous years and the usual control operations continued to be taken. In the last four years, a tree decline disease has affected mango plants in Sindh and Punjab. Mite attack on dates caused heavy losses in Baluchistan Province in the last years. Red Palm weevil was becoming important in Sindh. A new strain of Cotton Leaf curl virus - popularly called "burewala strain" - rendered resistance ineffective in the current varieties. However, it was localized and was contained through integrated management. The locust threat was there, but the situation was calm.
The national IPM programme established in 2000 has executed three major initiatives from 2000 to 2004 in an integrated strategy through the Farmer Field School approach: 1) FAO-EU Regional Project "Cotton IPM Programme for Asia" (2000-2004), 2) ADB-FAO Pakistan Project "Cotton IPM Programme" (2002-2004), and 3) AGFUND-FAO Pakistan Project "Pesticide Risk Reduction for Women in Pakistan (pilot initiative within the FAO/EU Programme for "IPM in Cotton in Asia" (2002-2003). The programme trained 10 000 small-scale farmers by the end of 2004. Under the National IPM initiative approved in July 2003 and effective in 2004, at a cost of Rs.197 million for five years, IPM was being pursued on a system-wide basis rather than a commodity basis. The initiative seeks to reach 50 000 farmers by the end of 2009.
The guidelines on the main international standards for phytosanitary measures received from the IPPC from time to time were considered and adopted according to the resources available and conditions prevalent. Pakistan is committed to implementing the international and regional phytosanitary standards and collaborating in this regard at regional and international levels according to available resources. Training programmes on quarantine operations, pest risk analysis and pest eradication, and upgrading the institutions would be highly beneficial for stringent implementation of the standards.
Pesticides were registered under the Agricultural Pesticide Ordinance 1971 read with the Agricultural Pesticides (Amendment) Act 1992 and 1997. No pesticide identified by the Rotterdam Convention and Stockholm Convention was registered in Pakistan and hence could not be used. Up to the year 2002, 1 441 brands of pesticides and 1 004 products under generic names were registered. Twenty-three pesticides have been de-registered. Further reviews took place to review the situation. Agricultural Pesticides Rules for registration of manufacturing, formulation and repacking units were amended in December 2002, followed by further amendments and policy guidelines by the Cabinet in 2004. The Pesticide Act has been revised and was placed before Parliament for approval in 2005.
3.15 The Philippines
The Philippines, as a developing country, was faced with many challenges resulting from changes in the international order of global trading. The most enormous challenge was the increase in trading of goods and movement of people which increased the risk of pest introduction into the country.
The NPPO, the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) through the Plant Quarantine Service, was the agency mandated to regulate the movement of plants and plant products. Regulation was implemented through legislation, regulations, administrative orders and special orders issued by the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture or the Director of the BPI.
The Philippines lagged behind developed countries in the development and the upgrading of the technical and physical infrastructure for implementation, and be consistent with the different international as well as regional standards. This was due mainly to the lack of resources - budget, manpower, physical infrastructure - which has always been the primary constraint of developing countries.
During the first quarter of 2004, a major pest outbreak of corn plant hopper (Stenocranus pacificus Kirkaldy) was reported in the Island of Mindanao. The biology of the pest was still under study. The integrated pest management approach consisting of cultural, physical, chemical and information campaign was implemented to control the pest. Brontispa longissima, coconut hispine beetle, was detected during the first quarter of 2005 in some of the southern provinces in Luzon. An action plan for controlling the pest was formulated consisting of inter-island and import quarantine, use of biocontrol agent and cultural control.
The national IPM programme was implemented in major rice, corn and vegetable growing provinces. The programme consisted of training programmes for specialists, trainers and farmer field schools. It was very successful in increasing yield and income of rice and corn farmers. It also helped empower farmers technically and it succeeded in putting in place skilled and motivated extension workers and farmers acting as implementers, along with local government mobilizing resources and support in the programme areas.
The Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority was mandated to ensure the availability of fertilizer and pesticide and to regulate their production, distribution, safe use and handling with the aim of protecting human health and the environment. The pesticide regulatory policies and the implementing guidelines were in conformity with existing international standards.
The BPI through the National Pesticide Analytical Laboratory monitored pesticide residues for agricultural crops. The Philippines does not have a National Maximum Residue Limit (MRL), but follows CODEX and the ASEAN harmonized MRL.
3.16 Republic of Korea
To promote the sustainable environment-friendly agriculture at the government level, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) of the Republic of Korea actively encouraged farmers to use the IPM and Integrated Nutrient Management (INM) in accordance to the environment-friendly Agriculture Promotion Act, which was revised in 2001, and devoted to the development and distribution of microbial pesticides and pest control methods using natural enemies.
The National Plant Quarantine Service (NPQS) of Korea developed the Plant Quarantine Certificate Electronic Exchange System for the purpose of preventing a loss or forgery, and submitted phytosanitary certificates to trade partners in the form of electronic documents. The NPQS also established the One-Stop Civil Application Settlement System which enabled importers to request for the inspection of imported plant and plant products and to confirm the status of inspection progress (by using internet). By establishing a prompt plant quarantine system, the NPQS saved a significant amount of time and personnel resources.
In order to cope with a new outbreak of prohibited pests and the active exchanges between the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the NPQS adjusted the prohibited areas of some prohibited plant and plant products, and newly opened the Goseong sub-branch office in April 2005, to be in charge of plant quarantine for the plant and plant products moved between the two countries. In addition to this, the NPQS of Korea endeavored to secure the plant quarantine circumstance, in which the harmonization with International Phytosanitary Standards could be realized without difficulties, by promoting the specialization of plant quarantine officers through the diversification of training and education programmes for plant quarantine personnel, etc.
The Rural Development Administration monitored the occurrence of major pests all over the country by operating 149 monitoring stations of rice and 1 403 observatory posts of rice and major vegetables, and provided the data for pest control. Also, in order to sustain environment-friendly agriculture, control techniques using natural enemies for greenhouse pests were provided to farmers. The Review Standard for the Registration Test Method of Bio-Pesticide and the Registration Application Document Act was established in April 2005, and encouraged the development and registration of low-toxic, non-residual, environment-friendly bio-pesticides such as the natural extracts and sex pheromone.
In relation to the International Cooperation in Plant Protection Development Project, the Rural Development Administration is carrying out the following two projects:
i. "UNDP/Environment-Friendly Agriculture Project (2003-2007)" aimed at the development of "Environment-Friendly and Sustainable Farming" and its settlement in the country.
ii. "Cooperation Project on Forecasting of Rice Insect Pest (2001-2005)" aimed at the establishment of the early-detection-system against brown plant hopper (Nilaparvata lugens) through the bilateral cooperation between the Republic of Korea and the People's Republic of China.
3.17 Sri Lanka
Inter-institutional cooperation among scientists and fostering of plant protection activities in the National Agricultural Research System (NARS) were strengthened through establishment of the National Committee on Plant Protection. This committee had been given the mandate of identifying national priorities on plant protection and development of inter-institutional coordination as and when required for issues related to plant protection.
As a result of regular and consistent involvement in plant protection activities, no significant pest outbreaks in major crops were reported during the period under review. Yet, plant protection activities were concentrated on a number of perennial pest problems in order to contain or manage them to avoid serious economic repercussions.
Zygograma bicolorata, a promising biocontrol agent was airlifted from Bangalore, India to initiate a biocontrol programme for the alien invasive weed, Parthenium hysterophorus. Control of noxious aquatic weeds received considerable momentum. A central rearing unit for multiplication of Cyrtobagous salviniae, the effective biocontrol agent of salvinia, was established. Neochetina bruchi, an effective biocontrol agent for water hyacinth, was brought in from Thailand for mass rearing and subsequently released into aquatic habitats. Meanwhile, the alligator weed (Alternanthera philoxeroides) and the giant mimosa (Mimosa pigra), which were considered as recently introduced invasive species, were gradually invading into new habitats.
An outbreak of vegetable leaf minor, Liriomyza huidobrensis, reported several years back, was successfully brought under control through the introduction of the exotic biocontrol agent Diglyphus isaea coupled with neem-based pesticides.
Broad-scale and in-depth studies on the impact of community IPM in rice revealed that the programme returned very high dividends in terms of both yield and income with parallel reduction in insecticide use. The investment incurred for training could be recovered seven-fold within a single season.
Farmer's pest management skills and decision-making earned through the rice IPM programme have been successfully extrapolated to management of vectors of vector-born diseases in rice ecosystems.
Implementation of ISPM No. 15 has been initiated. Pest risk assessment on carnation rooted stocks has been developed. Pest free areas to fulfill Australian requirements for exporting pineapple have been officially declared.
The government has given top priority to pesticide control and regulation. All pesticides classified under class I of the WHO classification and all persistent organic pollutants declared under the Stockholm Convention have been banned in the country. All arrangements have been finalized to ratify the Rotterdam Convention in the near future. A road map to implement the international Code of Conduct on Distribution and Use of Pesticides has been developed.
3.18 Thailand
Batocera davidis Deyrolle was the most serious longhorn stem borers in durian in the northeast and in the east. Imidacloprid, acetamiprid and thiametoxam were recommended for application. The outbreak of coconut beetle covered the whole southern region and part of the central region. The parasite, Asecodes hispinarum Boucek, was released. The parasites are now established in the Samui environment.
During the period 2004-2005, IPM technology was emphasized for okra, asparagus, orchid, baby corn, and cotton. Farmers realized that IPM technology could effectively control the right target pests, and was safe for consumers and the environment. The Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) Book of nine crops namely apple, citrus, grave vine, potato, onion, shallot, garlic, tomato seed and corn seed, were produced as manuals for the extension workers.
The Department of Agriculture (DOA) announced a wood packaging certification scheme to meet the ISPM No. 15 requirements. Treatment providers and wood packaging manufacturers that met requirements would be authorized to apply an internationally recognized mark to wood packaging materials produced for use in the export trade. The DOA has conducted pest risk analysis on citrus, potato, tomato seed, onion, apple, shallot, corn seed, grape, and garlic. The DOA and Bureau of Agricultural Commodity and Food Standard (ACFS) have been registered as 'IPP editors' for information exchange and setting up the national phytosanitary information website.
The DOA has merged the Hazardous Substance Act B.E. 2535 (1992) with other Laws. At present there were 96 pesticides banned and 11 pesticides under surveillance schemes. In 2004, 90.81 percent of pesticide samples met the standard while 9.19 percent were substandard. The Sub-Committees for Registration of Pesticides, under the responsibility of the DOA, appointed working groups for consideration of pesticide labels, toxicological data of pesticides, experimental designs and efficacy results, biochemical pesticides registration, microbial pesticides registration, and pesticide surveillance and evaluation. In 2004, pesticide residues frequently detected were cypermethrin, chlorpyrifos, methamidophos, endosulfan, triazophos, ethion, methyl parathion, methidathion, monocrotophos and carbendazim. The promising botanical pesticides, apart from neem, were two other plants, Derris elliptica and Stemona spp., which are still being studied.
3.19 Tonga
Recent developments in Tonga's plant protection and quarantine area included the establishment of the National Codex Committee (NCC), National Biosafety Committee (NBC), the activities of the NCC-Imports/Exports Standards Sub-Committee and the NBC, progress in the development of new plant health related legislation, progress and development in market access, exports and imports operations.
The NBC was established in 2003 as an interim policy/reviewing body with the Department of Environment in association with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food (MAFF), the designated National Plant Protection Organization and other government agencies working at all ports of entry. The NBC completed the development of the National Biosafety Framework (NBF) in 2004, including the development of the national Import Risk Assessment (IRA) for the importation of Living Modified Organisms (LMOs) in compliance with the CBD/CP and ISPM No. 11 rev. 2. In addition, the Biosafety Act 2004 was completed and shall be used as the legal framework for the implementation of the NBF. MAFF under the NBF is the operational arm of the NBF basically in the conduction of IRA for the trans-boundary movement of LMOs.
The NCC was established early in 2003 as the national policy authority within MAFF supported by the Ministry of Health and is responsible for the development and implementation of national policies and programmes on food safety issues. With the technical assistance of FAO, a Food Safety bill was drafted and the national import and export guidelines and food quality assurance standards were developed, with specific guidelines and attention given to pesticide residue and labeling.
The Quarantine and Quality Management Division (QQMD) of the MAFF was the national coordinating body responsible for addressing priority plant and quarantine health issues in Tonga, and for promoting confidence in Tonga's agricultural export industries. The Agricultural Export Commodities Act 2002 was finally gazetted and the legal export guidelines prescribed will be implemented next year for export operations. The Research and Extension Division (RED) of the MAFF was the agency responsible for pest management research and pest surveillance. MAFF was still the executing authority for the national pesticide code of conduct. In 2002, the amendment of the 1988 Pesticides Act was finally gazetted in 2004.
Tonga NPPO continued to participate in international and regional phytosanitary standard setting. The QQMD was an active participant in the drafting of the ISPMs during the regional technical consultations in Fiji and Samoa in 2004 and 2005, respectively, and after the 23rd APPPC Session. Tonga has always committed to working in association with the members of the Pacific Plant Protection Organization and the Asia Pacific Plant Protection Commission in the discussion of market access issues and biosecurity operation procedures.
3.20 Viet Nam
Agriculture production continued with great success over the past two years. Plant protection work contributed significantly to the minimizing of losses caused by pests and played an important role in facilitating trade following international rules.
Viet Nam is now in the final stage of accession to WTO and has committed itself to implementing the SPS agreement immediately after acquiring membership as of February 2005; Viet Nam has submitted to the Director-General of FAO, the Instrument of Adherence to IPPC and has deposited the Instrument of Acceptance for the revised text 1997 of IPPC.
During 2004-2005, pest infestation was lower than previous years. New detections of pests recorded during 2004-2005 were: white peach scale (Pseudaulacaspis pentagona), bean weevil (Acanthoscelides obtectus) and Mexico bean weevil (Zabrotes subfasciatus).
The National IPM programme continued with 13 IPM-related projects which were directly implemented by the Plant Protection Department in collaboration with various stakeholders, particularly farmers. A new programme "3 reduction 3 gain" was initiated and the first success was recorded soon after the implementation.
The plant quarantine system was further strengthened and received support from the Government and international bodies. The legislation on plant quarantine continued to be reviewed/amended in line with IPPC, WTO/SPS and other international/regional standards. Up till present, three ISPMs (1, 2 and 5) have been adopted as national standards, and three other ISPMs (4, 6 and 8) will be adopted this year. ISPM No. 15 "Guidelines for wood packaging materials" was implemented on 1 October 2004 for export commodities.
Pesticide registration and management schemes continued to improve. As of April 2005, 491 a.i. with 1 403 trade names were registered for use, 17 a.i. including 29 trade names of pesticides were restricted for use and 28 a.i. were banned, including endosulfan (banned from April 2005). Bio-pesticides were also encouraged to be used for pest control, and more than 60 products were registered.
At present, the Plant Protection Department - NPPO carries out the following international projects/programmes:
i. IPM in rice assisted by DANIDA, Denmark Government
ii. Phytosanitary Capacity Building Project for the Mekong Region (CLMV) Countries, second Phase assisted by NZAID, New Zealand Government
iii. Improvement of Plant Quarantine Treatment Against Fruit Flies on Fresh Fruits 2005-2007 assisted by JICA, Japan Government
iv. Integrating Effective Phosphine Fumigation Practices into Grain Storage System in Australia, China and Viet Nam assisted by ACIAR, Australia
v. Various trainings/workshops under ASEAN cooperation programme
Regional and international organization reports
3.21 Japan (observer)
Japan is one of the major importing countries of agricultural products in the world. As various kinds of agricultural products from many counties were imported, there were concerns about the introduction of new alien pests. Under these circumstances, Japan's plant quarantine authority implemented appropriate phytosanitary measures and improved the plant quarantine system to prevent the introduction of new alien pests in accordance with the WTO-SPS Agreement and relevant international standards on phytosanitary measures.
To facilitate IPM, MAFF felt it was necessary for prefectural
governments to develop the indicator for farmers to easily comprehend the degree
of activities related to IPM practice. To do so, MAFF established an expert
group in last November and the group had been examining
"the Guideline for
the IPM Practice Indicators".
The Plant Protection Station (PPS) initiated a pest risk analysis for the quarantine pests of imported wood packages to prevent such pests from being introduced into Japan. The PRA-report had been completed and published at the website of the PPS last March. (The URL is http://www.pps.go.jp.)
Japan:
i. Prohibited the import of host plants grown in countries/regions where sixteen species of significant pests (e.g. Mediterranean fruit fly, etc.) were present.
ii. Also requested growing site inspection in exporting countries in the case of the import of the host plants grown in countries/regions where ten species of significant pests (e.g. sugar beet nematode, etc.) were present.
iii. Added 46 species of pests (e.g. onion thrips and two spotted spider mites, etc.) to non-quarantine pests last April. At present the number of non-quarantine pests is 109 species.
Agricultural pesticides could not be manufactured, imported, distributed and used without the registration granted by the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries under the Agricultural Chemicals Regulation Law in Japan. The inspection on human health and environmental effect, etc., for the registration was conducted by the Agricultural Chemicals Inspection Station (Incorporated Administrative Agency).
Training courses on the disinfestation technique of fruit fly were held since 1988, for plant quarantine experts of developing countries where fruit flies are present, in order to provide them up-to-date techniques. By 2004, 85 trainees from 31 countries participated in this training course. This year five trainees from five countries participated.
3.22 Pacific Plant Protection Organization (PPPO)
The PPPO reported the undertaking of two major projects. They were biosecurity, and trade support and plant health support. There was one recent major achievement, which was the availability of the online Pacific Islands Pest list database PLD launched and officiated on 24 May 2005.
3.23 Report from CropLife Asia
CropLife Asia was introduced as a regional node for CropLife International, which provided training on the safe use of products for IPM. The major emphasis was to continually improve training of farmers. CropLife Asia hoped to create a bigger impression at the next APPPC meeting upon further implementation of its programmes. Delegates could log on to www.croplifeasia.org to find out more.
3.24 International Rubber Research and Development Board (IRRDB)
The IRRDB, established in 1960, was a research and development network which brought together the natural rubber research institutes in virtually all the natural rubber producing countries. Current emphasis included research on SALB in Brazil, and had offered fellowships in its programmes. So far, the Association of Rubber Producing Countries had organized three workshops in Brazil, which had led to the strengthening of efforts in SALB research and the highlighting of the role of Plant Quarantine Officers in the rubber industry. In May 2004, the IRRDB with the cooperation of Michellin and CIRAD (French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development), organized a SALB workshop.
3.25 Impact assessment of IPM-FFS implemented by the FAO-EU IPM Programme for Cotton in Asia
Investment in rural education and farmer training has become an important component of development assistance. In the past, these activities were considered as public goods whose benefits were often taken for granted. Sometimes, cost-effectiveness analysis had been applied with the aim to maximize the effectiveness of limited public funds through targeted placement of education programmes. More recently, however, the question of investment efficiency had also been raised with farmer training activities. Hence, training was considered as an investment with an identifiable stream of benefits that occurred over time. Especially a publicly funded training programme that followed the Farmer Field School approach should be subject to rigorous analysis and scrutiny because of the widespread perception that this concept was too expensive. Thus treating an FFS programme in the context of cost-benefit analysis could help to answer the question of whether FFS was a justifiable investment from the point of view of the donor and implementing countries. Hence, the objective of this presentation was to investigate the economic efficiency of investment in training farmers under the FFS approach as undertaken by the FAO-EU IPM Programme for Cotton in Asia.
Results of the analysis indicated that the public investment of the EU to implement the IPM Programme for Cotton in Asia was economically justified. This judgment could be made with some confidence since the analysis used rather conservative assumptions. In reality, the viability of the investment might be stronger. If the national programmes continued to support IPM under their regular extension activities, farmers were likely to continue to practise IPM beyond the two years assumed in this analysis. Also, national governments might undertake additional investments in IPM-FFS resulting in further scaling-up of the programme. For example, the Government of Pakistan had committed significantly more of its budget for IPM, expressing its willingness to diffuse the programme further.
In conclusion, the analysis of the benefits and costs of the FAO-EU IPM Programme for Cotton in Asia showed that even under conservative assumptions, the investments made by the project paid off. Overall, this study showed that in order to conduct meaningful benefit-cost analysis, a well-designed impact assessment scheme was a necessary pre-condition to obtain the basic data required for such analysis. To sustain the benefits from FFS programmes, it was crucial that enabling policy conditions were in place in order to create incentives for farmers to continue IPM practices. Moreover, institutional models for up-scaling IPM and the role of FFS thereof needed to be developed. Furthermore, a long-term ex post impact analysis would be needed to verify the critical assumptions of the analysis presented here.
3.26 US Department of Agriculture-Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS)
Mr Gary T. Greene, USDA-APHIS Regional Director, Asia and Pacific region, presented an overview of the USDA-APHIS current activities. Its roles and responsibilities in the region primarily dealt with trade facilitation, management of pre-clearance programmes, market access facilitation, liaison with the US-based staff to address SPS related issues, SPS capacity building, eradication programmes and other ad-hoc activities involving animal and plant health issues.
Contact information was provided from the six APHIS area offices in the region: Australia, China, Japan, the Philippines, Republic of Korea, and the newly-established area office in Taiwan Province of China. APHIS is anticipating future expansion by opening area offices in Beijing and Shanghai, China, Thailand and New Delhi, India.
APHIS highlighted the US import regulation on Wood Packaging Materials (WPM) which was the most recent issue involving trade between the US and its trading partners within Asia and the Pacific region. It emphasized the USDA announcement that all solid wood entering the United States as of 16 September 2005 must meet the new IPPC, ISPM No. 15 standard. Please visit PPQ homepage: www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/swp/index.html for more information.
