Pest Week 2024: CPM Draft Recommendation R-06 Minimizing pest risk associated with sea-container pathway – coming up at CPM18
A draft recommendation on minimising pest risk associated with the sea container pathway will be submitted to the CPM18 meeting of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 15-19 April 2024. If adopted, this will be the leading standard for action going forward.
The recommendation aims to raise awareness and suggest practices for reducing pest risks associated with sea containers. It covers internal and external pest contamination in sea containers transported by sea, road, and rail.
It has nine recommendations:
- Aim: Encourage globally consistent science- and risk-based measures to reduce pest risk.
- Raising Awareness: Calls on National Plant Protection Organisations to provide actionable information on phytosanitary requirements for sea-container pathways, to relevant parties.
- Reducing Pest Contamination: Encourages all parties in logistics to verify and prevent visible pest contamination.
- Visual Examination: Encourages visual examination of sea containers and cargoes for potential pest contamination.
R-06 explicitly recognises that visual examination/inspection must be safe. We believe that ICHCA has a particularly important role to play in supporting safe inspection guidance and practices.
- Methods to Remove Pest Contamination: sets out methods for removal or management of pest contamination, including safe disposal.
- Sea-Container Structure: Encourages modifications for future container builds to make them less prone to pest contamination and to enhance pest detectability.
- Input for Effective Measures: Welcomes proposals and suggestions for reducing pest risk.
- Collaboration with Multilateral Bodies: Encourage collaboration with relevant organizations to address sea-container cleanliness.
- Regulatory Tools: Encourages contracting parties to establish regulatory tools for National Plant protection Organisations to manage pest risk.
The annex to the document is designed to provide background information for greater understanding of pest risk and its implications. It provides contextual information on sea-container pathway characteristics, shared responsibilities, and associated risks. It identifies the very real challenge of managing pest risk while ensuring the efficient movement of sea containers and emphasises the shared responsibilities among NPPOs, government organizations, and industry parties. It also explores the risks associated with empty containers, cargo types, handling, and storage.
The recommendation seeks to strike a balance between addressing the pest risk in sea-container pathways and minimizing impacts on global supply chains. It encourages collaboration, information sharing, and the implementation of science- and risk-based measures for effective pest risk reduction.
Link to draft CPM Recommendation R-06 on minimising pest risk associated with sea containers: https://www.ippc.int/en/publications/93105/
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