As the 53rd Session of Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues (CCPR) gets underway virtually from 4 to 8 July, 2022, the Codex Secretariat spoke to the new Chairperson of the committee Guibiao YE, from hosts China.

Tell us about your role in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs/ICAMA?

I have been engaged in the management of pesticide registration in the Institute for Control of Agrochemicals of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs for nearly 30 years. Over the last three decades, I have worked in fields of the evaluation of pesticide effects, the management of pesticide import and export trade, the Convention Implementation, assessment of pesticide residues, and elaboration of pesticide residue standards.

How long have you been involved in Codex work and why do you consider it important?

Since 2013, I have been fortunate to be a JMPR (The Joint FAO/WHO Meeting on Pesticide Residues) expert, evaluating and recommending a number of Codex standards for pesticide residues, and deeply involved in the work of Codex. Seven years ago, as the head of the CCPR Secretariat Office, I was responsible for the daily work of the Secretariat and the organization of the annual session, which gave me a good opportunity to be really engaged in the work of Codex.

From the perspective of many countries, the pesticide residue standards, have a great impact on the international trade of food and agricultural products. A critical part of Codex work is to discuss and endorse the scientifically based and harmonized pesticide residue standards. They not only protect the health of global consumers, but also promote fair trade among all countries, which is very important to ensure global food security and increase the income of farmers in the world.

What do you see as the major issues on the committee’s agenda?

As matter of a fact, Member States pay attention to every topic of the 53rd CCPR Session which is very important. The key topics are to endorse pesticide residue limit standards, formulate the schedule and priority list for pesticide residue standards in the coming year, as well as discuss and adopt technical guidelines for risk assessment of pesticide residues.

In addressing those major issues, what will be your goals for CCPR53

Our main goal in the meeting is to endorse more than 500 pesticide residue limit standards and some other important technical guidelines, which are also of great concern to all countries, and advance them to the Commission for the adoption.

What are the challenges of working virtually?

Firstly, time is urgent but tasks are heavy. We have only five days of session this year and only three hours per day, but there are 21 agenda items to discuss. Moreover, participation from the different time zones is also a burden for the Chairperson and all participants.

Secondly, the network connection is unstable and the conference system is not perfect for some delegates. Due to the large number of participants, the servers and networks in various places are unstable and not smooth occasionally, which may affect the discussion during the session.

Third, it is more difficult for simultaneous interpretation because of the remote translation. Since interpreters can only participate in the conference remotely, problems such as signals may hinder the understanding and translation of simultaneous interpretation, bringing additional challenges to the discussion during the session.

Learn more

Follow the working documents vie the CCPR53 meeting page.