19th SESSION OF THE COMMISSION ON PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES (CPM-19) Opening Remarks

Excellencies,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Dear Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson,

My Colleagues, DDG Beth Bechdol, Director Yurdi Yasmi and others joining this important meeting.

The work of the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM) and the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) is essential.

Forty-six years ago, when I started my university life on horticulture, one of the professional subjects was plant protection. We need to protect plants, we need to keep plants healthy, we need to keep food safe and healthy. That is what I learned from my professor forty-six years ago.

Not only is breeding important, not only is food processing important, not only is plant cultivation important, but plant protection is also important – it is one of the fundamental issues for better production.

Plant health is key to food security, biodiversity, and sustainable agrifood systems.

The work of the IPPC supports Members to protect plants from pests and diseases, ensuring better production. The Four Betters start with Better Production.

Why do the ministers of agriculture and food always start with production? Because it needs to be better and better. Then of course we need Better Nutrition, Better Environment and a Better Life. That is why we came with the Four Betters, endorsed by the FAO Ministerial Conference in 2021 – the first Conference since I took office.

It is the foremost global authority on plant health standards, and for this reason the meetings of the CPM are key for setting these standards and advancing their implementation.

The IPPC also supports national plant protection organizations with guidance, training and resouces to strengthen their ability to prevent and manage plant pests and diseases.

Dear Colleagues,

Healthy plants are the foundation of productive farms and strong rural livelihoods.

Yet, pests, diseases and the spread of invasive species destroy up to 40 percent of global crops, costing the global economy over USD 220 billion each year.

It is the single most destructive element to reduce food, especially plant-based food. No other single element destroys as much. That is why FAO established the IPPC many years ago as one of the biggest global bodies on plant health, to play a professional role in assisting Members.

Harsh climate events further alter the movement of pests and diseases to new areas with more and destructive diseases that are transboundary.

When I was the responsible minister in China, about seven or eight, years ago, I still remember I set up a special allocation fund to support the IPPC Secretariat with USD 3 million at that time.

I remember when I came here five or six years ago, no other Member had allocated USD 3 million to the IPPC Secretariat. I encourage all of you, maybe not with 3 million, but even just one million, half a million, or USD 300 000, or USD 30 000 even USD 3 000 to support the IPPC. You need to walk the talk - not only ‘talk’, you need also some ‘walk’!

Even though we may be facing financial challenges in the coming two years, I have allocated an additional half a million US dollars to support the IPPC.

Protecting plant health is essential – not only for agriculture but also for human, animal and environmental health.

The One Health approach ensures a holistic response, reducing pesticide use, limiting zoonotic disease risks, tackling antimicrobial resistance, and preventing environmental degradation.

Shortly after I arrived, in 2020, before the pandemic, it was the International Year of Plant Health. As people here in FAO always spoke about One Health, I saw that here One Health equaled zoonotic deseases control - it was too narrow. And then I enlarged it, encouraging FAO to understand what One Health truly means. From soil health first, to plant health second. Because plants do not only offer food for people, but also feed for animals. If animal feed is not healthy, how can we have healthy animals? So, I encouraged my colleagues in the division of animal health to open their mind and to holistically design what One Health means: soil health, plant health and animal health. And then we come to human health, and then to environmental health.

That should be the logic. Within FAO, we should be integrated and work together. That is the real One Health. In many years that we have been talking about One Health we only talk about animal health or equal to zoonotic diseases. It is too narrow.

Luckily, I have a new Director of Animal Health (Thanawat Tiensin). He understands that animal health should start from the soil because he is from Thailand. The former King of Thailand Bhumibol was a famous scientist in the world in the soil science. He understood that soil health is the start of everything, including human health.

The 29th Session of the FAO Committee on Agriculture (COAG) recommended strengthening the One Health approach and FAO’s collaboration with all key partners.

Plant health is essential to One Health, and it must be a global priority.

Science and innovation are at the heart of this work, and the standards developed are based on scientific evidence.

Innovation enhances these efforts, including through the ePhyto Solution, which has ensured that currently 20 percent of international trade in plant-based products is now conducted more efficiently and securely, benefiting both exporters and importers.

The IPPC Plant Health Campus further support efforts by providing an e-learning platform for free, high-quality training to national plant protection organizations and expertise and plant health professionals worldwide.

Since we established the FAO e-Academy we have attracted several million readers and visitors. In FAO and across the different workstreams under the Deputy Directors-General (DDGs), we encourage working coherently, and I am happy to see this happing in particular across the workstreams under  DDG Maurizio Martina and DDG Beth Bechdol to implement common goals.

And the Africa Phytosanitary Programme provides African countries with advanced tools to prevent, detect and manage significant plant pests and diseases through a regionally tailored approach to strengthening plant health systems in Africa.

In Africa, one out of five people are still suffering from food insecurity, when the global average is one out of eleven. So we should put more efforts into Africa first, and it does not mean we do not help other regions like Asia, Latin America, the Near East, or even the Eastern part of Europe and Central Asia, and of course the Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs).

But Africa is always one of the key areas we should work on to improve their productivity, and improve their food supply by reducing food loss, especially from the production side, as well as costs due to diseases and pests. That is the only solution.

If we do not produce more with less, how can we solve the problem of food insecurity?

In addition, innovative technologies such as the advanced Geographic Information Systems enhance pest surveillance and early warning systems by helping countries detect and respond to pest threats more effectively.

When I arrived in 2019, we faced a big problem with locusts in the East Horn of Africa, but we were supported by the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Russia, China and others, including the UN, the Bill Gates Foundation, and the World Bank. We worked together to control the locust outbreak even during the pandemic. So we avoided triple overlapping crises. That is a good example of working successfully together with Members and funding partners.

Now, we are improving capacity building and facilities for locust control through a good platform and base for plant diseases and pest surveillance with a new tool and big data - the Geospatial Platform.

I visited several Members in Africa and they are using the Platform, which makes me so happy to see effective locust control thanks to a big investment from Members. And now they have a solid foundation for other diseases control, mapping and surveillance.

To support these efforts, we have allocated an additional USD 0.5 million in the proposed Programme of Work and Budget (PWB) for 2026-27 to strengthen the IPPC’s capacity in implementing international standards, training and innovation.

After this meeting, those of you who want to donate USD 1 000 or USD 10 000 to the IPPC should come to speak with DDG Beth Bechdol. Who will be the first? Who will be the champion?

I will send a letter of appreciation to your President, or Prime Minister, or Minister of Agriculture, or Minister of Foreign Affairs or Minister of Finance!

Please, do not only talk, lets see if we can at least match USD 0.5 million, so we can make one million!

For so many years I have heard so many of you saying how important the IPPC is, so now it is time to take action!

This is the first increase to the IPPC from our Regular Programme budget in five years. When I first took office, I increased it by USD 1 million, and ever since then I have been waiting for Members to take ownership and partnership of the IPPC. Then the pandemic came, followed by other crises. But now, we have incrased the amount for the second time and it is time for Members to match our increase.

Dear colleagues,

This year, FAO celebrates its 80th anniversary – a milestone and a commitment to a year of action, and increased impact in the years ahead.

As part of the anniversary celebration, in the context of the World Food Forum, we will be hosting the First FAO Global Exhibition “From Seeds to Foods”, under the coordination of Deputy Directos-General Beth Bechdol, Maurizio Martina, Godfrey Magwenzi, and the Chief Economist Máximo Torero.

Which will showcase the agrifood value chain – starting with seeds (or seedlings), genetic stocks and saplings, and showing how they come to our table as foods. 

To achieve our collective ambitions requires global partnerships, and investment in plant health to support the transformation of global agrifood systems to be more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable.

FAO supports Members in achieving this transformation, guided by our Strategic Framework 2022-31 founded on the Four Betters: better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life – leaving no one behind.

Dear Colleagues,

Today is a historical day for FAO because finally after so many years we are abolising the outdated security check facility at the entrance of the FAO premises. As part of a holistic design to modernize FAO, we started with the revamping of the cafeteria, the atrium, as well as completing the renovations of this meeting room two years ago in June 2023, so now we are completing the rennovations from the entrance gate to the gardens in front of the buildings.

I am hopeful that before October everything will be ready including the new parking lot and the coffee corner to enjoy a cup of coffee or tea while facing the Circo Massimo.

Coming back to plant protection - we need plant health first, in front of our garden. So, if any Members are willing to offer some special plants, please contact Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol, and then we can display your special indigenous plant, of course it will have to be in line with the required climatic conditions. But, we will also build a small greenhouse for tropical plants and since two years ago we have established a space in Villa Pamphilj – about three hundred hectares – to house the FAO trees library and flowers. A FAO garden in the middle of Villa Pamphilj! 

So, I encourage all of you and will support you if you talk with your Ministers, your leaders, to donate some plants there. Then we will make FAO really rooted in this ancient town, which dates back more than 3000 years. I will be a good opportunity for you to display your specialty from your countries, with plants, flowers, trees and fruits, or even some bushes.

So, I wish you all a good stay, enjoy the changes at FAO, and enjoy the good and affordable food in FAO.

Thank you. Thank you very much.