IPPC in the Digital World : ephyto Solution and e-commerce

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1 IPPC in the Digital World : ephyto Solution and e-commerce Thematic Workshop on Control, Inspection and Approval Procedures (Annex C) SPS Committee, WTO, Geneva 9-10 July, July 2018

2 The International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) Where we have been Article I With the purpose of securing common and effective action to prevent the spread and introduction of pests of plants and plant products, and to promote appropriate measures for their control Bern Convention on Phylloxera vastatrix 5 country agreement Convention Respecting Measures To Be Taken Against Phylloxera vastatrix 12 country agreement International Convention for the Protection of Plants Original text of the IPPC enters into force IPPC modified Uruguay Round of GATT recognizes IPPC Revised text of the IPPC adopted Alignment with SPS agreement of WTO Revised text enters into force Fundamental of Convention is the exchange of phytosanitary certificates between officials ensuring that plants, plant products and other regulated articles moving in international trade comply with phytosanitary import requirements

3 ephyto in brief Project to facilitate the electronic exchange of phytosanitary certificates The only project of its kind among the three SPS sisters (IPPC, OIE and Codex) Initial funding from the STDF, augmented with resources from IPPC Contracting Parties and the World Bank

4 What is an ephyto? NOT a paper certificate NOT a scan of a paper certificate Electronic equivalent of a paper phytosanitary certificate Standardized XML schema (structure)

5 An example of a portion of an ephyto 5

6 What is the ephyto Solution? Hub System to facilitate exchange of ephytos between NPPOs GeNS Generic ephyto National System Centralized web-based system to allow countries without their own systems to produce, send and receive ephytos in the XML format through the hub

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8 Why implement ephyto? National efficiencies Improved security Simplification of information flow between traders and government Options for data transfer and data sharing Expedited clearance of commodities Better evaluation of risks Ability to address certification problems in advance of commodity arrival Ability to prioritize activities in advance of commodity arrival

9 ephyto benefits to risk management and trade facilitation Better identification of risk Information in advance can be used to identify risk commodities, establish priorities and pre-determine arrival activities Targeting in advance of arrival also allows importers to better anticipate actions on arrival Better use of resources based upon risk Opportunity to align with other electronic initiatives that facilitate trade (e.g. single windows)

10 Hub pilot Commenced October 2017 and closed March 31, 2018 Technical success Objective to validate Proof of concept Guidance to participate Identify any operational gaps 11,000 certificates exchanged through the testing environment 7000 certificates exchanged through the production environment Success with some minor changes applied following pilot Now open for all Contracting Parties to participate Pilot Countries Argentina Australia Chile China Ecuador Kenya Korea Netherlands New Zealand USA

11 Hub - next steps April 2018 July 2018 Address technical issues & develop schema validation tool being established Development of sequencing and implementation process Begin onboarding additional countries with national systems Working with industry advisory group to study the impacts on trade resulting from implementing ephyto hub

12 GeNS Generic ephyto National system Web-based system to support developing countries System specifications developed based on generic workflow NPPO Client requests certificate carries out phytosanitary certification activities NPPO issues certificate NPPO withdraws certificate NPPO receives certificate

13 GeNS next steps System development to be completed by July 2018 Pilot countries working with ESG members/ Secretariat Business reengineering to implement automation within business workflow Legal analysis Infrastructure improvements, etc. Pilot expected to commence August/September 2018 Pilot countries Samoa Ghana Sri Lanka

14 Strategic planning activities Implementation plan for Hub/GeNS Work plan for the medium term ( ) Strategy for investments over the medium term ( ) Completion of business modelling Identify real operating costs Funding accountability framework Clarity on cost/benefit

15 Strategic planning activities Governance/admin framework Identify potential capacity development needs Establish model for long term stabilized funding Research and implement mechanisms for integration in Trade Facilitation Agreement framework

16 Country support The Secretariat has received both in-kind contributions and donor funding Australia Canada Japan The Republic of Korea Switzerland The United States of America Current funding is expected to support operation of hub and GeNS until end of 2019 Additional funding is critical to maintaining operations beyond 2019

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18 Trends: e-commerce and safe international trade Growing volume of sales in plant/plant products through internet (e-commerce) Online traders of plant/plant products not taking into account customer location e-commerce in plants and plant products often bypass phytosanitary measures Few NPPOs factor this pathway into their risk analyses

19 e-commerce and the IPPC Discussion of e-commerce topic at the IPPC IPPC Implementation Review and Support System (IRSS) study on Internet Trade (e-commerce) in Plants: Potential Phytosanitary Risks CPM-09 (2014) - adopts the IPPC recommendation N 5 on Internet trade (e-commerce) in plants and other regulated articles CPM-12 (2017) - a special session on e-commerce is organized The CPM Bureau and the Strategic Planning Group - further discussion on topics to recommend future actions and mobilize extra-budgetary resources

20 Proposed directions of e-commerce activities Cooperation with stakeholders including: ad hoc working group with relevant stakeholders risk assessment - clarity on positions of 3 sisters and WCO Communication and awareness : factsheet addressed to NPPOs (in cooperation with APHIS) standardized information for stakeholders (key commodities and work arrangement) joint publication with WCO (TBA) webpage on the IPP on e-commerce awareness raising video/tutorials on e-commerce

21 Contacts IPPC Secretariat Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, Rome, Italy Tel.: Websites: