A Regional Workshop for the Global Review of Phytosanitary Surveillance in the Context of the IPC Standard was held in Chiang Rai, Thailand from  31 January – 3 February 2012.

The objectives of the workshop were to identify the challenges faced by NPPOs in the implementation of the standard; to provide recommendations for the review panel on ways to improve the standard; and to gather examples of best practice for preparation of training materials and manuals as well.

The workshop was well attended by 24 delegates from 17 countries. The meeting opened with overview of the IPPC and its recent activities.  A foundation activity of national plant protection organizations (NPPOs) is the conduct of pest surveillance in line with the International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPM) No.6. The products of pest surveillance provide the basis for pest listing, identification of pest status, pest reporting, pest categorization and the conduct of pest risk analyses.

The outputs of this workshops were contributed to the improvements of ISPM No.6 through  analysis on the data and other feedback concerned together with recommendations made by the workshop to the review panel of the ISPM6. The examples of best practice collected were also contributed to the preparation of appropriate training material and manuals under the capacity development programme of the IPPC.

During the workshop a draft tentative programme of an international symposium on pest surveillance as well as main context of training programme relating to the surveillance, which will be organized by APPPC respectively were discussed.

A number of recommendations for improving ISPM 6 were made to the IPPC Secretariat, which are including administrative, operational and technical aspects, in addition to the overall suggestions on the improvements such as consideration of guidance on obtaining country commitment to a surveillance programme, the improved coordination of surveillance efforts within countries, guidance on the management of surveillance programmes and the quality (particularly statistical) of such programmes, and means of improving diagnostic support, etc.