Proceedings of the 7 th Internaiumai Worhng Conference on Stored-product Protection - Volume 2

Phytosanitary measnres and safe

Robert L. Gnffm1

Abstract secunty. Trade of agricultural products across international It has long been recognized that protection from the boundanes is often essential to food security; especially introduction and spread of harmful new plant pests IS where shortages occur or greater vanety is required. The essential for food security. Likewise, m this era of globahzation, the facilitanon of trade has become equally ability to move commodities to distant markets helps balance global shortfalls and surpluses and offers needed diversity to Important to economic security As the movement of people and goods accelerates WIth the liberalization of trade, the diets. Likewise, the ability to Import and export m the phytosanitary measures used by governments to abate the introduction and spread of plant pests have come under mternational marketplace IS an Important element for the economic security of all nations. Trade m agncultural mcreasmg scrutiny for the protection they provide and also for their effect on trade. products IS especially Important to many developing The objectives of plant protection and intersect countnes whose pnmary products are unprocessed under the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) agricultural commodities. where the concept of 'safe trade' is addressed through the Globalization, and the rapidly accelerating hberahzation of global harmonization of phytosamtary measures The trade, has brought new opportunities for countries hoping to primary mechanism for reahzmg this IS the elaboration of strengthen therr economic SItuation WIth trade in international standards agncultural products. But, these countnes also need to Key concepts and pnncipals addressed m international protect their natural and cultivated resources from the standards under the IPPC provide the baSIS for globally ravages of new pest introductions harmonized phytosarutary measures. By participating m The nght and need to Impose phytosanitary measures for standard-setting processes and observing internationally the exclusion of harmful plant pests is recognized and agreed standards, governments are better able to achieve an strongly supported by all countries. However, this is appropnate level of protection while reducing the hkelihood balanced by the need to ensure that exclusion policies are of trade challenges. The emphasis m standards on feasibility justified and the right to challenge those that are deemed and technical soundness ensures that the same principles and unfair. In instances where free trade policies colhde with procedures are beneficial where trade IS not the pnmary excessively restrictive phytosarutary measures, the concern. opportunities for improving either food security or econormc security become pohcy-hnuted. By carefully balancing free trade With legitnnate plant protection measures, countnes are able to reahze maximum benefit m their efforts toward both protection and the facilitation of trade. In this context, Introduction facihtatmg trade and protecting plant health should not be seen as confhcting concepts, but rather as a single objective- One does not often encounter the terms 'Food security' and 'safe trade' . 'Econonuc security' in the same context Although both are undeniably desirable alms for all nations, indeed for the Food Security world, they are charactenzed by very different types of interest, influence, and practice. But these Ideals also The case for food secunty begins WIth the realization that overlap; particularly where trade in agncultural commodIties there are currently about 800 million chronically IS concerned. It IS in thIS area where the concept of 'safe undernounshed people m the world today. The World Food trade' emerges as key to maxlmlzmg the potential for SummIt, convened by FAO m November 1996, urgently countries to achieve both food securIty and economIC called for coordinated worldwide action to ensure' Food for All' .

1 Coordmator, Secretarmt of the InternatIonal Plant Protectlon One element of strategIes to achIeve food seCurIty IS Conventlon, FAO-AGPP, Vlale delle Terme dl Caracalla, 00100, mcreased agrIcultural production. ThIS may be achIeved by Rome, Italy mcreasmg the area under production, Improving cultural 1745 Proceedings of the 7th Internatwnal Working Conference on Stored-product Protection - Volume 2 conditions and bettenng vaneties, but more importantly for new areas. This raises significant concerns m policy this discussion, by reducing losses to pests. Equally formulation, especially as measures for protection are likely important is the sustamabihty of systems that help achieve to affect the free movement of commodities m trade. this without undue disadvantage to others or unacceptable On the one hand, countries need to be able to import to damage to the environment. meet their needs and market demands, and they have the FAD has estimated that up to one third of the global reciprocal need to have their exports accepted by others. On production of food and fiber is lost due to pests such as the other hand, countnes must exercise a certain amount of insects, mites, fungi, bactena, Viruses, weeds, and care to ensure that they do not unduly jeopardize their own nematodes. An additional portion of the production is resources by mtroducmg harmful new pests. This must be reduced m value due to quahty and other concerns resultmg considered against the corresponding need to ensure that from pest damage or the results of efforts to control pests they do not ship harmful pests to other countries. Less quantifiable, but equally important, are the lost Consequently, there emerges a strong requirement for opportumues for trade as a result of restrictions agamst balanced, dynamic, mulu-disciphnary approaches to policies pests that cannot be adequately managed to meet import concerned With pest management, for both domestic and requirements. foreign pest concerns. These approaches are mcreasmgly based on international cooperation, sophisticated Economic Security , and the marnage of economic and biological analyses. Where economic security is concerned, one need not look far We are today expenencmg this transition in practice based to see a world of growing economic mtegration and widenmg on more hohstic global view This is evidenced by the circles of development. As the expanding interest and actrvity around technically sound, celebrates the 50th anniversary of the rules-based trading mternationally agreed approaches to phytosarutary pohcy system which began with the GATT after World War II, it is making m place of piecemeal bilateral agreements. The clear that globalization and the liberahzation of trade have evidence mdicates that this shift Will bring Significant become permanent fixtures in international pohcy benefits to the mcreased cooperation and trade. It also formulation and are mtegral to the economic security of all encourages more sustainable, consistent, and nations, Now, more than ever before, the world's environmentally acceptable policies. There is strong concern prosperity rests on mamtammg an open mternational that as tanffs and other barners are removed, countries may based on commonly agreed rules. impose measures under the guise of protection in order to The significance of agnculture m tlus mternational secure market or other unfair advantages It is the nature of economy is quickly evident as we see enormous quantities of quarantme to follow the old adage, 'an ounce of prevention fresh and processed agricultural commodities racmg across 1S better than a pound of cure' There is a common borders and seas to markets m the far corners of the globe perception that it is comparatively cheaper and easier to where the availability of such products had been prevent the entry of pests With strongly restnctrve measures inconceivable only two decades before. For every country in than it is to be faced Witha new pest mtroduction. But while the world, the import and export of agricultural products is a certam degree of care is clearly justified, unreasonably essential to the health of the economy as well as the conservative pohcies are seen to unnecessarily restrict population. Non-industnalized countries m particular rely trade. The results of such unfair practice can have dire upon as a cornerstone for commerce Industrial economic consequences as tradmg partners react With countries rely upon trade m agricultural products to provide challenges and possible retaliation As globalization and the quantity, quahty and vanety of goods demanded by liberalization of trade have matured, and international trade modern consumers. m agncultural products has grown in importance, it has become necessary for 'free trade' and 'farr trade' to evolve Trade and Protection still further to embrace the concept of 'safe trade'. That is to say that disClplmesare necessary to ensure that protechve Mankmd has been concerned With the mtroduchon and measures are used to the extent justified by legihmate spread of harmful plant pests throughout recorded history, concerns, but not as unjushfied barners to trade. but regulatory programs for exclUSiOnare a relahvely recent development, first emergmg Wlth the mdustrial age m the The SPS Agreement last century In the dawnmg age of globahzahon, more trade, faster trade, and the openmg of new markets for ThiS bnngs the diSCUSSionto the last round of mulhlateral agricultural products mcrease opportumties for the trade negotiahons under the General Agreement on Tariffs movement of pests that can have deletenous consequences m and Trade (GATT) - the Uruguay Round, and the 1746 Proceedinq« of the 7th Internatwnal Working Conference on Stored-product Protecium - Volume 2 agreements therem related to agnculture Emergmg from involving contractmg parties to the Convention, regional these negotiations was the Agreement on the Apphcation of plant protection organizations and FAG. The objective of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (the SPS Agreement) these efforts was to agree upon necessary modifications to which dealt specifically with the Issue of measures to protect the Convention and to provide greater structure to future plant, arumal and health and hfe activities of the IPPC. Included in these uutiatives was the The SPS Agreement provides discipline to the use of formation of a Secretanat, the launchmg of an ambitious protective measures in order to prevent such measures from program of standard settmg, and the negotiation of being used as unjustified trade barners. The Agreement IS amendments to the Convention to better reflect structured around several key pnnciples, begmnmg WIth the contemporary practices and the new role of the IPPC m sovereign right of a country to put protective measures in standard settmg. place, but balancmg this with the obligation to ensure that The IPPC has advanced mto standard settmg with the arm such measures are justified. While every country IS given of estabhshmg three levels of standards: reference the right to Impose emergency measures m the absence of standards, concept standards, and specifrc standards The sufficient evidence, the SPS maintams a correspondmg IPPC Secretanat, m consultation with member governments requirement to pursue such information as may be required and regional plant protection orgamzations, defmes to evaluate the appropnateness of measures. Measures pnorities for standard setting and coordinates therr should only be mamtamed on the baSIS of scientific pnnciples elaboration. ThIS has resulted m the adoption of several and evidence considered m the framework of a systematic Important documents, mcludmg: Prmciples of plant evaluation process known as nsk assessment. Those that are quarantme as related to mternational trade; Guidelines for determmed to be inappropnate should be modified. pest nsk analysis, Glossary of Phytosanitary Terms; Transparency in the development and implementation of Requirements for the estabhshment of pest free areas; and measures IS cntical throughout. the Code of Conduct for the Import and Release of BIOlogical A number of other very Important pnnciples and Control Agents. defimtions are found in the SPS Agreement The sum of Each of the above hsted documents address Important these represents a bluepnnt for estabhshmg fair measures as elements of phytosarntary systems and provide valuable well as for evaluatmg the measures of others. guidance for the development of appropnate harmonized A key pomt to note IS that the SPS Agreement gives systems and also for evaluatmg the systems of others. More countnes the option to base their measures on nsk recent standards, such as Guidehnes for surveillance and assessment or on mtemational standards. It then goes Export certification systems, provide additional mformation further by identifying the sources for such standards in the and another level of detail related to the proper design and three disciplmes: animal and human health (sanitary), and Implementation of phytosarutary systems. plant health (phytosamtary). The Codex Ahmentanus IS As addmonal standards are added and greater detail IS responsible for human health and food safety, the Office agreed upon, the standards will become mcreasmgly more International des Epizooties (DIE) addresses animal health, valuable However, this framework of standards already and the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) IS offers significant utility to national plant protection the organization named m the SPS Agreement as the source orgaruzations, particularly where pest management systems of mternational standards for phytosarntary measures and regulatory decision making have an Important role in trade. The International Plant By usmg standards to the extent possible for designing and Protection Convention implementmg phytosamtary systems, countries reduce the level of analytical resources needed to design systems that Pnor to the SPS Agreement, the IPPC had led a relatively can be expected to withstand the scrutmy of tradmg partners qUIet eXIstence as an mternatIonal treaty depoSIted With the and also meet the obligations of governments under the IPPC Director-General of FAG Smce 1951 when It was adopted, and the SPS Agreement. The standards serve not only as the Convention's most dIstmgUIshmg feature had been the models for developmg measures, but also as reference pomts Phytosamtary CertIflcate, a harmomzed format to be used by for evaluatmg or challengmg measures They offer countnes to certify the phytosamtary status of shIpments for conceptual, techmcal, and pohcy gUIdance export It IS on thIS certifIcate that pest management Some key pomts from the Convention and current measures and other Important mformatIon are noted, standards mclude: especially reqUIrements pertammg to It specIfIed by the • obhgatIons for cooperation, mformatIon shanng, pest Importmg country survel1lance, pest hstmg, and pest nsk analysIs; The SPS Agreement placed new expectations on the • defimtIons for critical terms such as pest, area, and IPPC, resultmg m a series of consultations and changes estabhshment; 1747 Proceedmqs of the 7th lniernatumai Worktng Conference an, Stored-product Protection. - Yoiume 2

• settmg out the pnnciples of area freedom and areas of low The possibilities for achieving the complementary goals of pest prevalence - recognizing that pest presence IS food security and economic security m the context of plants associated With areas rather than political boundaries, and and plant products are enhanced by carefully balancing the that pest absence or low prevalence may be used as the objectives of plant protection and trade facilitation. ThIS IS baSIS for phytosamtary certification; done by ensuring that phytosamtary measures are linuted to • descnbmg the essential components of pest free areas - those that are necessary and technically justified. systems to establish freedom, measures to maintain The International Plant Protection Convention provides a freedom, and checks to venfy that freedom has been neutral international forum for dialogue and agreement on maintained, global phytosamtary issues. Standards, guidelmes and • establishing the pnnciple of equivalence - acceptmg recommendations done under the IPPC provide useful measures that are not Identical but have the same result; guidance to governments and are recogmzed under the SPS · elaboration of the prmciple of managed risk - accepting Agreement of the WTO as the most appropnate means for that zero-pest risk IS not feasible and that the strength of harmomzation. By participatmg in the IPPC and embracing measures used to manage nsk should be based on the level the tenus, concepts, practices and procedures developed of risk and the appropnate level of protection; under the Convention, governments are able to meet their · defining and describing pest risk analysis (PRA) - basing obligations for international cooperation in plant protection measures on a systematic assessment of the pest nsk using as well as trade. At the same time, governments are able to scientific principles and evidence, inc1udmg both biological realize maximum benefits from trade m agricultural products and economic data by building the confidence of trading partners as practitioners of 'safe trade' . Conclusion References The ability to limit agricultural losses due to pests - m the field, dunng transportation, and storage - IS clearly a key Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary strategy m efforts to provIde' Food for All' ThIS includes Measures, 1999. the need to apply exclusion measures, which IS necessary to World Trade Orgamzation, Geneva. International Plant prevent the introduction of harmful new pests. Parallel to Protection Convention, 1992. FAO, Rome. this IS the need to trade agricultural products mternationally Introduction to the WTO- Trading into the Future, 1997. without undue restriction or unacceptable pest risk. Trade The World Trade Orgamzation. Geneva. m agncultural products IS critical to balancing surpluses and Pnnciples of plant quarantine as related to international shortages while also ensuring the economic strength and trade, 1995. ISPM Pub. No.1, FAD, Rome. stability of many countnes.

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