4. Plant Quarantine

Guidelines for Country Report:

4.1 NPPO Structure and Organization

Observations (from 21 country reports)

• Responses were sometimes for plant quarantine, sometimes for plant protection
• 14 countries failed to describe their NPPO and how the functions are covered
• 7 countries have reorganized their plant protection in the last 5 years
• In 12 countries, plant protection and NPPO functions are organizationally close; in 5 countries the functions appear to be spread over different directorates and even ministries
• Half the countries described their plant quarantine structure in terms of number of personnel, number of quarantine stations and labs, entry points, number of persons authorized to issue certificates, number of export certificates and import permits issued
• In response to the question about plant protection legislation, about half the countries listed their plant quarantine laws; 6 countries reported about ongoing developments and plans
• Half the countries provided the address of the quarantine service, which was not always identical with the NPPO focal point

Notes

• The term NPPO is misleading and misunderstood because it is used for both narrowly for only plant quarantine and widely for plant protection functions

To Be Considered

• It may be more useful to ask about the organizational arrangements for specific plant protection functions than to describe national plant protection organizations that are understood and arranged differently in different countries
• Quarantine services may be described by personnel, facilities and annual services
• Plant protection/quarantine legislation only needs periodic updating and does not need to be repeated in each report

4.2 Implementation of ISPM

 Observations (from 21 country reports)

• Countries are aware of ISPM and try to follow them
• Only 4 countries gave details on status of ISPM implementation
• 3 countries indicated use of RSPM

Notes

• Question too general; ISPMs are of different nature, and each one may require a specific set of questions

To Be Considered

• Inquire about each ISPM separately with specific sets of questions

ISPM 15: Wood Treatment

Observations (from 21 country reports)

• 12 countries have partially implemented IPSM 15 or are in the process of setting up implementation; status unknown in the 8 other countries
• Most countries are first regulating their export before requiring ISPM for import
• Only 1 country (Philippines) has implemented ISPM 15 for both import and export
• MeBr fumigation used in at least 3 countries

Notes

• Implementation of ISPM 15 is progressing in the region, but not fully implemented

4.3 ISPM 2/11: Progress of PRA

Definition

Pest Risk Analysis: The process of evaluating biological or other scientific and economic evidence to determine whether a pest should be regulated and the strength of any phytosanitary measures to be taken against it [FAO, 1990; revised IPPC, 1997]

Pest risk analysis (PRA) consists of three stages: initiating the process for analyzing risk, assessing pest risk, and managing pest risk.

Observations (from 21 country reports)

• Only half the countries have used pest risk analysis
• 9 countries find PRA difficult and lack trained personnel for implementation
• Not always clear whether PRA was for determination of quarantine pest (ISPM 2) or import risk potential (ISPM 11)
• Only industrialized countries appear to conduct import risk assessments of commodities from specific origins.
• A regional PRA was conducted in 2003 for SALB by China, India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam

Notes

• More specific questions necessary to assess status of implementation in the region

To Be Considered

• Key indicators
  – Number of PRA completed

4.4 ISPM 19: List of Regulated Pests

Observations (from 21 country reports)

• About half the countries have lists of regulated pests, but it is not sure whether all lists are according to ISPM 19
• Only 2 countries indicated that they have lists of both quarantine and non-quarantine regulated pests (required by ISPM 19)
• Lists are constantly revised and updated
• Some countries still may not have a list

Notes

• More specific questions necessary to assess status of implementation in the region
• Not clear, whether lists are based on PRA

To Be Considered

• Key indicators
  – Number of PRA-based quarantine and non-quarantine pests – Number of regulated crops

4.5 ISPM 10: Pest-free Places

Observations (from 21 country reports)

• Only 5 countries have verified pest free places
• Four more countries are in the process of setting up pest-free sites; e.g. India developed 3 surveillance standards for fruit fly, brown rot/potato, mango weevils
• Only Australia has an externally verified production site

Notes

• Production from verified pest free places not yet widespread in the region
• More specific questions necessary to assess status of implementation in the region

4.6 Use of IPP for Information Exchange

Observations (from 21 country reports)

• Most countries did not respond/describe use of IPP
• Only 3 countries said they use IPP actively for information exchange; Australia uses IPP only for notification of pest outbreaks
• 10 countries use their own websites for information exchange; two websites have on-line databases
• Besides the official contact points, IPP contains only sketchy information
• IPP contains only 142 SPS notifications for 9 countries, while there are more than 4000 for 14 countries on the WTO website.

Notes

• Countries do not seem convinced of usefulness of IPP and use it for information exchange
• For SPS information, IPP is in competition with WTO and most countries use WTO for up-to-date information exchange
• PP should be complementary to WTO site and linked to it
• IPP may present summarized information and links

To Be Considered

• Explore different means of information exchange
• Key indicators
  – Number of items reported for all countries
  – Number of items reported per country

4.7 Phytosanitary Capacity Evaluation and Training

Observations (from 21 country reports)

• Despite two regional training courses in PCE, only two countries responded to have used the procedure
• Only 3 countries responded to have organized training for their staff
• 6 countries participated in regional or local training courses
• Multiple trainings were conducted on PCE and pest risk analysis

Notes

• PCE may be too complex or too time consuming for use in countries
• More specific questions necessary to assess staff training activities

To Be Considered

• Apply simplified concept to other plant protection functions

4.8 Proposals for RSPMs and ISPMs

Observations (from 21 country reports)

• Seven countries proposed 13 RSPMs and 7 ISPMs

RSPM

1. Risk of entry of scale insects (Australia)
2. PRA (China)
3. Plant seeds and seedlings for export (China)
4. Quarantine methods for imported seeds and seedlings (China)
5. Monitoring for fruit fly (China)
6. Accreditation of farms and packing houses to facilitate fast track approval of phytosanitary certificate (PC) (Malaysia)
7. Pest Risk Analysis on Importation of Organic Fertilizer/Compost containing microorganisms (Malaysia)
8. Implementation of a systems approach for the management of fruit flies (Malaysia)
9. Implementation of a systems approach or the management of citrus greening disease (Malaysia)
10. Procedures relating to single stop inspection (Myanmar)
11. Diagnostic method (Nepal)
12. Disposal of expired pesticide (Nepal)
13. Guidelines for sampling procedures for inspection (Nepal)

ISPM

1. Biological prophylaxis and treatment (China; No. 2 and 11 fail to provide basic principles for risk assessment)
2. Guidelines for regulation import of micro propagation plant material (India)
3. Existing RSPMs to be considered as ISPM (Indonesia)
4. Guidelines/training to implement SPS requirements (Sri Lanka)
5. Methodology for importation outside the SAARC regional countries kept in transit before re-exporting to SAARC countries (Sri Lanka)
6. Pest risk analysis on importation of GM seeds for planting and consumption and guidelines on safety measures and effective monitoring methods (Sri Lanka)
7. Standards on storage pests and pests associated with cut flowers and plants imported for decoration purposes (not covered by regulated non-quarantine pests) (Sri Lanka)