Alexandria, Virginia, USA
April 1, 2011

Source: Newsletter of the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA)


Major revisions to two international standards associated with phytosanitary certification, which will impact the seed industry, were adopted during the 6th meeting of the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM) March 14-18 in Rome.

The CPM is the governing body of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC).
The American Seed Trade Association's Ric Dunkle, senior director of seed health and trade, participated. Dunkle who served as a technical advisor was one of many attendees who worked through more than 600 issues during evening sessions to overcome concerns and make sure the standards were acceptable for adoption.

International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures 7 (ISPM 7) addresses the certification system and ISPM 12 addresses processes and procedures for issuance of phytosanitary certificates.

"This has been a three-year process," Dunkle says. "We had to address issues concerning additional declarations to the certificate; maintaining country of origin documentation through multiple seed re-exports; logging phytosanitary information from the beginning to meet multiple countries' import requirements; the handling, issuance and information management of re-export certificates; and the duration that phytosanitary certificates are valid."

Prior to the meeting's close, the seed industry delegation consisting of representatives from the Seed Association of the Americas, International Seed Federation, European Seed Association and the Asia-Pacific Seed Association held a seminar for CPM participants. Dunkle, as ASTA's delegate, participated in this event. They conducted an analysis of the revised ISPM 7 and ISPM 12 to let people, primarily representatives from the national plant protection offices of IPPC member countries, know what the changes address and what challenges still exist from an industry perspective.

"One of the challenges that neither of these ISPMs address is the variety of testing methods used from country to country," Dunkle explains. "It would be much easier for companies to meet import requirements and better for the countries' phytosanitary security if we had standard testing methods and phytosanitary import requirements for quarantine pests of concern."

Regardless, Dunkle notes that the adoption of ISPM 7 and ISPM 12 is a big step forward.
"These new changes should mean that re-exporting seed will be an easier and more expedited process," Dunkle says. "They also lay the foundation for the development of a seed-specific international standard."
 

Website: https://www.ippc.int

Published: April 1, 2011