A delegation led by the AU-IAPSC Coordinator, Dr Saliou Niassy, left Yaounde last Friday in view of participating in the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures 18. Convened by the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), CPM-18 is holding from 15 through 19 April 2024 in FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy.

CPM normally meets every year in March or April at FAO headquarters to promote cooperation of contracting parties and relevant stakeholders to help implement the objectives of the IPPC. The Commission meetings are attended by IPPC contracting parties and by observers from organizations such as the Regional Plant Protection Organizations, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Standards and Trade Development Facility, the World Customs Organization, and the World Trade Organization, among others.

Prominent on CPM-18 is the adoption of various reports (Report from the CPM Bureau on Credentials; Report from the CPM Chairperson; Report from the IPPC Secretariat; Report from the Strategic Planning Group; Report from the CPM Subsidiary bodies; Report from the Standards Committee (SC). Then the adoption of international standards for phytosanitary measures (ISPMs), CPM Recommendations, Implementation of IPPC Strategic Framework – report on the implementation of the eight DAIs and draft prospectus, Update from other CPM Focus Groups, Implementation and Capacity Development, Collaboration with Regional Plant Protection Organizations, among other topical issues.