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E. International plant protection convention

The Conference recommended at its Fifth Session in 1949 that a study be made on the possibility of establishing a centralized service to report the incidence of plant diseases and insect pests, that action be taken to revise the International Plant Protection Convention, Rome, 1929, and to abrogate the Phylloxera Convention, Berne, 1881. The Conference considered the recommendations of the special working party on the revised International Plant Protection Convention, and, at its Tenth Plenary Meeting, 11 November, adopted the following resolution:

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Recognizes the paramount importance of adequate world-wide plant quarantine regulations and endorses continued national and international action to bring about the necessary protective measures against the spread of insect pests and plant diseases of economic importance or likely to become of economic importance, as envisaged in the proposed International Plant Protection Convention;

Recognizes also the value of regional phytosanitary conventions to serve groups of countries with common problems, and of an overall international convention embodying agreement on quarantine measures and a central reporting service to advise on the co-ordination of phytosanitary efforts on a world scale along the lines of the proposed Convention;

Notes that a number of governments wish further time to consider the details of the proposed Convention and that several clarifying amendments have been proposed;

- Determines therefore e that final action with respect to the adoption of the proposed Convention cannot well be taken at this Special Session of the Conference and should be postponed to the regular Sixth Session;

- Recommends to member governments the following procedure designed to permit final action at the Sixth Session:

(a) that, as soon as convenient, member governments submit to the Director-General (i) information on the degree to which they are able to implement the requirements of the draft Convention, (ii) general comments with respect to the proposals of the draft Convention, (iii) their views on those parts of the draft Convention needing clarification, and (iv) proposed amendments to specific articles;

(b) that the Director-General assemble the amendments received, communicate them to member governments for further study, anti bring clarification as far as it can be reached by correspondence ;

(c) that, if necessary, an interim working party be appointed by the Director-General to advise FAO in revising the proposed Convention, but that this be done only if there is a wide divergence of opinion on fundamental issues;

(d) that member governments be invited to send delegates to a meeting before the next Session of the Conference, at a time and place to be determined by the Director-General, to consider a revised Convention prepared by the secretariat on the basis of this clarification; and

(e) that member governments meanwhile give attention to the establishment of national official organizations for plant protection as outlined in Article III of the draft Convention, and that the establishment of regional plant protection organizations be actively pursued.

REFERENCES, PLANT PROTECTION CONVENTION

The International Plant Protection Convention (C50/8)
Draft Revision of the International Plant Protection Convention (C50/8 Annex 1)

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