Rep o rt of th e tw en - Rotterdam Convention

APHIS highlighted the US import regulation on Wood Packaging Materials (WPM) which
was the most recent issue involving trade between the US and its trading partners within Asia and
the Pacific region. It emphasized the USDA announcement that all solid wood entering the United
States as of 16 September 2005 must meet the new IPPC, ISPM No. 15 standard. Please visit PPQ
homepage: www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/swp/index.html for more information.
4. Discussion on the approval of two Regional Standards for Phytosanitary
Measures
Dr John Hedley, Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Plant Quarantine, presented two
RSPMs for adoption. He provided an account of their development. Dr Hedley noted the
similarities of the draft RSPM No. 3 with an ISPM on the same subject and ground-breaking nature
of RSPM No. 4.
4.1 APPPC RSPM No. 3: Req uirements for the Establishment and Maintenance
of Pest Free Areas for Tephritid Fruit Flies
The Chairperson informed the Commission of the several changes made to the draft.
RSPM No. 3 was then adopted without further changes. The full text of RSPM No. 3 is in
Annex II.
4.2 APPPC RSPM No. 4: Guidelines for the Confirmation of Non-Host Status of
Fruit and Vegetables to Tephritid Fruit Flies
The Chairperson informed the Commission of the several changes made to the draft. After
some deliberation, it was agreed that the last sentence of Section 4, first paragraph, line 4 “The
control replicate should be punctured as per Section 3 .4 whilst using the same experimental conditions”
be removed. RSPM No. 4 was then adopted. The full text of RSPM No. 4 is in Annex III.
The delegates were informed that should there be any conflict arising between RSPMs and
ISPMs, international standards should take precedence.
5. Progress in implementation of the provisions of the International Code
of Conduct on the Distribution and Use of Pesticides; and the Convention
on the Prior Informed Consent (PIC)
Dr Niek Van der Graaff, Chief of Plant Protection Service, FAO Rome provided an update
on the Rotterdam Convention. The Convention came into force on 24 February 2004. The first
conference of Parties was held in September 2004. The meeting decided the Secretariat would be
a joint one presided over by FAO (dealing primarily with pesticides) and UNEP (dealing with industrial
chemicals). The Parties agreed to include 14 additional chemicals making a total of 41. A chemical
review committee was established, with membership based on geographic distribution, to make
recommendations to the COP on which chemicals may be introduced into the system.
The second meeting would be held in Rome to discuss compliance and the work programme,
and budget. The number of parties had increased from 60 to 98.
5.1 Discussions of the presentation
To a question raised concerning the relationship of the PIC to the Montreal Protocol, the
delegates were informed that the only area where there might be an overlap of interest was the
usage of methyl bromide. At present, exemption from the Montreal Protocol was still permitted for
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