Rep o rt of th e tw en - Rotterdam Convention

1.3 Opening remarks by Ms Wan Normah Wan Ismail, Chairperson of the 23 rd
Session of APPPC
The Chairperson started by expressing her appreciation and thanks to the G overnment of
Thailand and FAO Bangkok for their roles in the co-hosting of the Commission Session, and also to
the E xecutive Secretary of the APPPC and Secretariat staff for the management of the meeting.
Ms W an Normah then reported the successes in the pursuit of regional cooperation in IPM,
Pesticide Management and Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) issues, with emphasis on the areas of
capacity building and information exchange. There was special mention and thanks to the E xecutive
Secretary of the APPPC, Mr Piao Y ongfan for his contributions to the implementation of the work
plan for the 2003-2005 period. The highlights of this were:
i. Development of two Regional Phytosanitary Standards with Australia, namely, the
Guidelines for the Confirmation of Non-Host Status of Fruits and Vegetables to Tephritid
Fruit Flies and The R eq uirements for the E stablishment and M aintenanc e of P est Free
A reas for Tephritid Fruit Flies.
ii. Coordination of the Regional Technical Consultation on draft ISPMs.
iii. Organization of two workshops on the preparation of Pest Risk Analysis (PRA) for
South American Leaf Blight (SALB), followed by engagement of a consultant for
a 3-month study mission in preparation of the final workshop in 2006 .
iv. Organization of five regional workshops with the cooperation of the IPPC Secretariat,
FAO Rome and NPPO Malaysia in capacity building.
v. Hosting of the Sec ond W ork shop on the Harmoniz ation of P estic ides R egulatory Sy stem
in A SE A N in Kuala Lumpur.
As out-going chairperson, Ms W an Normah expressed confidence that the momentum gained
in the previous years would be sustained over the next two years with enhanced cooperation and
globalization.
1.4 Welcome address by Dr Changchui He, FAO Assistant Director-General and
Regional Representativ e for Asia and the Pacific
Dr He welcomed the delegates to Bangkok and expressed his thanks to the G overnment of
Thailand for hosting the meeting. He especially thanked Mr Somchai and the Organizing Committee
for the superb administration of the meeting, and also the out-going chairperson for the efficient
and effective work over the past two years.
G iving an outline in the priority areas, Dr He stressed the necessity for discussion into the
various areas of plant quarantine, and the need for phytosanitary measures to be effective and not to
be a trade barrier. Special attention would be dedicated to the discussion of RSPM No. 3 and
RSPM No. 4 . He also emphasized the importance of the availability of regional information, which
could be greatly enhanced with the introduction of the International Phytosanitary Portal (IPP).
The successful implementation of IPM in rice, cotton and vegetables in recent years was
highlighted as being a positive example of the achievements of APPPC member countries. He promised
further assistance towards sustainable and environmentally friendly agricultural projects developed
from the expansion of IPM programmes.
On the problems arising from improper use of pesticides, Dr He announced that an International
Code of Conduct on distribution and use of pesticides has been adopted. However, a significant
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