Grain trade provides expertise at IPPC Latin America ePhyto workshop

The IPPC’s regional workshop on ePhytos for Latin America and the Caribbean was held this week (11-13 September) in Buenos Aires. The aim of the workshop was to raise awareness about the global ePhyto initiative among 19 National Plant Protection Organizations (NPPOs), and to drive implementation of ePhytos in the region.  

The grain trade was identified as a source of industry expertise for this meeting and consequently three IGTC members/Corporate Stakeholders were invited to make presentations:

• María Marta Rebizo, CIARA-CEC (presentation here)
• Alexander Gil, Cargill, Inc (presentation here)
• Alejandro Pernías, GlobalShare

The event was led by the Argentine NPPO, SENASA, and other speakers included IPPC, the UN Computing Centre, and the ePhyto Steering Group. 

Photo: Maria Marta Rebizo, CIARA-CEC

Government readiness to exchange ePhytos – industry case studies

A total of 18 governments have now officially signed up to the IPPC’s ePhyto Hub, showing a commitment to exchange and receive ePhytos via the global system (see live dashboard here). Mexico, Australia and New Zealand are expected to join Argentina and USA in the full “production stage” in the coming weeks, with Ecuador and Chile not far behind.

The IGTC is working via its regional focal points to ensure that grain trade company testing of ePhyto exchange can be carried out. The aim of the industry case studies is to identify any bottlenecks in the system that could impact trade, as well as contributing to a system that has full interoperability with trade flows.

Cartagena Biosafety Protocol: Preparations for COP-MOP 9 in Egypt

On 17-29 November 2018 the United Nations will call on decision makers from more than 190 countries to “step up efforts to halt the biodiversity loss and protect the ecosystems that support food and water security and health for billions of people”. Part of this effort is for governments to discuss potential revisions to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and one of its key instruments the Cartagena Biosafety Protocol (CBP), which impacts more than 85% of the world’s grain trade movements.

So far preparatory documentation has been published on socioeconomic considerations, and recommendations from the Compliance Committee (see CBP documents, here), as well as on risk assessment and “synthetic biology (see CBD documents, here).

In addition, on Tuesday this week a webinar was held to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the entry into force of the CBP. Presentations were given by regulatory bodies in Cambodia (risk assessment), South Africa (public understanding of biotechnology), Tunisia (control and risk of “GMOs”), and the EU (importance of the precautionary principle). Presentations can be found here.

The accuracy of the information reported and interpreted in this communication is not guaranteed. All contents are subject to correction and revision. This newsletter and referenced links are for the use of IGTC Members and Stakeholders only and should otherwise be treated as confidential.