Rep o rt of th e tw en - Rotterdam Convention

The Regional Workshop on International Code of Conduct on the Distribution and Use of
Pesticides: Implementation, Monitoring and Observance was held in Bangkok, Thailand, from
26 to 28 July 2005. Attended by 18 of the APPPC member countries, the workshop discussed the
new provisions of the Code of Conduct which was revised in 2002 to strengthen its guidance to
reduce the adverse effects of pesticides on health and the environment and to support sustainable
agricultural practices. The participants assessed the status of the implementation of the revised
Code and identified needs, priorities and emerging issues at the country level. The workshop delegates
carefully reviewed the draft guidelines on monitoring and observance of the revised version of the
Code. Suggestions were made to further improve the questionnaire. The delegates endorsed the
12 findings to strengthen the implementation of the Code of Conduct.
2.5 Progress in the Implementation of Plant Quarantine in Asia and the Pacific region
The topics of Guidelines for Pest Free Areas for Fruit Flies and Guidelines for Determination
of Non-host Fruit Fly Status were identified as priorities for regional standard setting for phytosanitary
measures during the 23 rd Session of APPPC. The APPPC working group discussed the standards
and revised the former titles of the draft RSPM No. 3 and RSPM No. 4 to Requirements for the
Establishment and Maintenance of Pest Free Areas for Tephritid Fruit Flies and Guidelines for the
Confirmation of Non-host Status of Fruit and Vegetables to Fruit Flies U sing Host Status Tests
respectively during a “Working Group Meeting on Draft Regional Standards for Phytosanitary
Measures”, which was held in Bangkok from 27 to 30 September 2004. These two draft standards
were reviewed at the meeting of the APPPC Standards Committee, which was held in Bangkok,
Thailand, from 14 to 16 February 2005. The draft RSPMs were later distributed to APPPC members
for their comments, and several were submitted by some countries. The updated draft standards
would be submitted to this session for further review and adoption.
The Regional Training Workshops on the International Standards, Pest Risk Analysis and
Phytosanitary Capacity Evaluation (PCE) were held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 19 to 30 July
2004 and 19 to 29 July 2005 respectively. Attended by representatives from 11 countries and CABI,
the workshops were part of FAO’s Programme to promote capacity building in plant health and to
coordinate the implementation of phytosanitary measures as applied to international and regional
trade. Training was provided to enable the participants to input necessary information – country’s
background on phytosanitary capacity and the conducted exercises on the standards to evaluate the
NPPO capacity (ISPM No. 6 on Guidelines for Surveillance and ISPM No. 7 on Export Certification
were used as examples for these exercises). The participants successfully carried out the exercise
on PRA with the PCE Tools, and significantly increased their fundamental knowledge/information
on ISPMs and other phytosanitary aspects.
The Fifth APPPC Regional Workshop for the Review of Draft International Standards for
Phytosanitary Measures was held in Bangkok from 23 to 27 August 2004. The workshop was attended
by representatives from 20 countries and the IPPC Secretariat. The workshop reviewed the six
draft ISPMs. The meeting recommended that the draft standards on the guidelines for inspection of
consignments and the requirements for the establishment, maintenance and verification of areas of
low pest prevalence, were returned to the working groups for redrafting. The reviewed draft ISPMs
were discussed at the 7 th Interim Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (ICPM) which was held
in Rome, Italy, from 3 to 9 April 2005. As a result, three new ISPMs and two revised ISPMs were
adopted. The Sixth Regional Workshop for the Review of Six Draft International Standards for
Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs) will be held in Thailand from 10 to 14 September 2005, and five
draft ISPMs will be reviewed.
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