Alexandria, Virginia
May 20, 2009
 Source:
American Seed Trade Association
(ASTA)
Seed E-News
The
North American Plant Protection Organization (NAPPO) held
its first seed panel meeting April 20-22, in Ottawa, Canada, to
begin the process of drafting a standard on seed re-exports.
NAPPO is a regional phytosanitary standards-setting body that
functions under the umbrella of the International Plant
Protection Convention (IPPC) and is one of nine regional plant
protection organizations in the world.
NAPPO membership includes the national plant protection officers
(NPPO) from the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Panels are often
established around commodities to develop standards based on the
needs of the governments and private sector that will facilitate
trade while at the same time preventing the introduction of
unwanted plant pests and diseases. NAPPO panel members are
regulatory officials from each of the three governments plus
industry representatives from each of the member countries that
serve in an ex-officio capacity.
Ric Dunkle, ASTA's senior director for seed health and trade, is
the U.S. industry representative on the seed panel. Arcadio
Lozano (Sakata Seeds and Mexican Seed Trade Association - AMSAC)
is the Mexico industry representative, while Bill Leask
(Canadian Seed Trade Association - CSTA) is the Canadian
industry representative on the panel.
As the seed industry continues to expand internationally,
companies want to re-export seed more than ever. The problem is
that when seed is grown in the country of origin, international
rules dictate that the country of export (origin) is only
obligated to meet the entry requirements of the first country of
import. For example, if seed is produced in Chile and exported
to the U.S., the Chilean NPPO are only obligated to certify that
the seed for meets U.S. entry requirements. If the company then
wishes to export that seed to the European Union (EU) from the
U.S., the U.S. may not be able to certify that the product meets
the EU entry requirements which likely are different from, or
are more stringent than, those of the U.S.
The IPPC has been struggling with this same issue and is
attempting to address it through changes to international
standards for phytosanitary certifications (ISPM) 7 and 12 which
would allow recognition of additional information on the
phytosanitary certificate. One major difference between typical
commodities for export, such as fresh fruit and vegetables,
versus seed is that re-export for most commodities is an
alternative when the entry conditions for the importing country
cannot be met. Whereas for seed, re-export has become a common
business practice. Most seed companies know in advance that they
intend to re-export. Options that have been considered include a
"seed passport" system similar to the plant passport system
currently in place in the EU for nursery plants. However, this
option has been determined not feasible to be established and
implemented by the IPPC.
At the NAPPO Seed Panel meeting in Ottawa, another option was
developed for consideration. For the seed produced in the
country of origin, the exporter will declare up to five
countries that the seed could be re-exported to through any of
the three NAPPO countries. The entry requirements for those
countries for re-export will be tabulated, and the seed will be
properly inspected and/or tested for these particulars. This
additional information will be placed on the phytosanitary
certificate in the additional declaration (AD) section. If
provided by the NPPO of the country of origin, this information
will be considered official by the U.S., Mexico or Canada and
that information will then be used to issue re-export
certificates. "We are very optimistic that we can develop a
standard that both the seed companies and NPPOs around the world
can be comfortable with," said Ric Dunkle. "However, the devil
will be in the details!"
ASTA has organized a seed re-export mini-workshop as part of the
meeting of the Phytosanitaty Committee on Monday, June 22, at
ASTA's
126th Annual Convention in Scottsdale, Arizona.
|
 |
The workshop will be a forum to
dialogue with ASTA members on this re-export standard concept. A
panel that includes Ric Dunkle, Arcadio Lozano, and Bill Leask
as well as staff from USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service (APHIS) will present and explain this concept. This
forum will provide a unique opportunity for ASTA members to get
a preview of the idea presented at the NAPPO Seed Panel meeting
and provide valuable input at the earliest stage of the
development of this standard. "I am hopeful that we can have a
draft standard that can be sent out for country consultation by
this fall," noted Marcus McElvaine, the USDA/APHIS
representative on the panel.
ASTA is also working with the Seed Association of the Americas
(SAA) to coordinate the development of the NAPPO standard with
COSAVE, the South American counterpart to NAPPO. The goal is to
arrive at standards that are equivalent, if not identical. If
this can be achieved, NAPPO and COSAVE can then propose that the
NAPPO/COSAVE standard be adopted by the IPPC as a global
standard, maybe as early as 2010. If acceptable to the IPPC, the
standard could be officially adopted at the IPPC 2011 annual
meeting. |
|
