Emergency actions are prompt phytosanitary actions such as inspection, testing, treatment or refusal taken in a new and unexpected phytosanitary situation. In accordance with ISPM No. 13, the exporting contracting party should be notified of the emergency actions taken. Emergency actions in international trade are typically associated with individual consignments, and applied at one point in time.
Emergency measures are phytosanitary measures such as regulations or procedures, established as a matter of urgency in a new or unexpected phytosanitary situation. They are usually established without prior notification to trading partners. Immediately after emergency measures are established, they should be reported to contracting governments concerned, the Secretary of the IPPC and any RPPO of which the implementing contracting government is a member.
Emergency measures tend to be longer lasting than emergency actions and may result in a phytosanitary action being taken repeatedly, depending on the situation.
An emergency measure may or may not be a provisional measure. A provisional measure is a type of emergency measure that does not yet have full technical justification because it is implemented as soon as the emergency situation arises when there is a lack of technical information.
When taking emergency action or emergency measures, contracting parties should take into account the principles listed in ISPM No. 1.
As outlined in section 5.1.6.2 of ISPM No. 20 (Guidelines for a phytosanitary import regulatory system), situations that may require the implementation of emergency actions or emergency measures may include those where:
Emergency actions for consignments in a point of entry, or during transportation include:
Emergency actions are usually individual operations on consignments. However, where an emergency situation occurs repeatedly on the same commodity from the same country of origin and the notification of emergency action does not result in an improved situation, then the continuation of emergency action may be justified. This may lead to the establishment and application of emergency or provisional measures.
An emergency measure established and implemented by the competent authorities, can be directed against the pest or the pathway of pest.
Emergency measures may include:
Emergency measures, which may be used by NPPO to deal with differing situations include:
When an emergency situation occurs, an NPPO can apply one or more of the measures mentioned above as considered appropriate.
Where the emergency measure is not a provisional measure and which can be technically justified immediately, the technical justification should be made available as appropriate.
Where the emergency measure applied is a provisional measure, the NPPO should undertake a review of the technical justification of the measure as soon as possible. If the review indicates the measures are inappropriate, the measure should be modified accordingly.
Both importing countries and exporting countries have responsibilities when new or unexpected phytosanitary situations occur in international trade.
When an emergency situation occurs and emergency action or emergency measures need to be taken, the NPPO of an importing country may use some or all of the following procedures to establish and apply emergency action and/or measures. An NPPO:
If emergency action is taken repeatedly, the NPPO may establish and apply emergency measures (with justification if available).
The NPPO of an exporting country:
NPPOs should clearly identify their relevant section or, if necessary, another agency that is responsible for making the notifications. Countries may use the section of their organization that is already responsible for similar functions such as the WTO-SPS inquiry point or IPPC contact point.
Emergency actions should be reported to the contracting government concerned.
Emergency measures should be reported to the "…contracting parties concerned, the secretary and any regional plant protection organization of which the contracting party is a member" (IPPC Article VII 6). The country applying emergency measures should ensure that trading partners are informed of the measures. Both the International Phytosanitary Portal (that is the Secretary of the IPPC) and RPPOs will be able to inform the wider phytosanitary community of the application of emergency measures.
For emergency actions, notifications should be provided promptly (ISPM
No. 13 section 5).
When an NPPO establishes emergency measures, the NPPO should notify
all affected countries and parties of the measures "immediately" (IPPC
Article VII 6). Such notification should allow the countries and parties to react appropriately to keep losses to a minimum.
ISPM No. 13 section 6 describes in detail the information required for
a notification of non-compliance and emergency action.
The notification of emergency measures should include the following information:
Emergency actions, as has been noted, are usually applied to single consignments. NPPOs apply such actions on a sound technical basis. Emergency actions taken repeatedly for the same emergency situation may become emergency measures.
If emergency measures require to be continued, they should be evaluated by pest risk analysis or other comparable means for the new emergency situation as soon as possible. The modification of the phytosanitary measures should then be communicated to the exporting country.
Where provisional measures have been applied, the NPPO should also:
