Surveillance Manual - Plant Pest and Disease

Surveillance Manual - Plant Pest s and Diseases Sumattie Gosine
Chapter 1 Surveillance 1.1 Why do we need to do surveillance?

We need to do surveillance for many reasons; amongst these are the fulfilment of our international obligations as signatories to international treaties and conventions, namely:

• The International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) require its signatories to develop surveillance capabilities to facilitate transparency in international trade and preserve their biodiversity.

 The CBD is a global, comprehensive agreement addressing all aspects of biological diversity: genetic resources, species, and ecosystems. Signatories are obligated to uphold Articles 7(c), 8(l), 8(h) and 8(k) of the CBD, with regards to surveillance activities. That is, signatories must:

• identify/ monitor/ regulate or manage activities that are likely to have significant adverse impacts on the biological diversity;
• prevent the introduction/ control or eradicate alien species which threaten ecosystems/ habitat/ species; and
• develop or maintain necessary legislation and/or other regulatory provisions for the protection of threatened species and populations.

The IPPC is an international treaty to secure action to:

• prevent the spread and introduction of pests of plants and plant products, and
• promote appropriate measures for their control whilst minimizing technical barriers to trade.
  The IPPC is governed by the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures, which adopts the International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs). The IPPC is one of the three standard-setting bodies whose rules are accepted by the World Trade Organization‟s (WTO) Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (the SPS Agreement) (Article 3 and Annex A: 1(c)). The IPPC is recognized as the only international standard setting body for plant health.
• The World Trade Organization (WTO) operates a system of trade rules that provide the legal ground-rules for international commerce between nations at a global level. The WTO is the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) which had been in existence since 1947 as the organization overseeing the multilateral trading system.
• The Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS), entered into force with the establishment of the WTO, concerns the application of food safety and animal and plant health regulations. Signatories responsibilities/obligations with regards to surveillance are outlined by IPPC Article I: 1 and 4; Article IV: 2(b), 2(e), 3(a) and 3(b); Article VII: 2(a), 2(g), 2(i), 2(j), 3, 4 and 6; Article VIII: 1(a), 1(b), and 1(c), and ISPMs No. 4, No. 6, No.8, No.10, No. 19 and No. 22.