Joint IPPC and IAG ePhyto webinar concluded in the Philippines

© FAO/Jake Salvador

© FAO/Jake Salvador

Rome, 10 October 2022.  More than 175 people from the Philippines’ industry and government agencies participated in the joint webinar of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) and the ePhyto Industry Advisory Group (IAG) on the IPPC ePhyto Solution for the Philippines. The webinar intended to introduce onboarding and interested country business and government representatives to the ePhyto system. The ultimate goal is to make the transition from paper phytosanitary certificates to digital as seamlessly as possible.

The recently held webinar was the 12th in a continuing series of the joint ePhyto webinars. The series first began in the Spring of 2021 with more than 40 countries from various regions having participated either in a country-specific or regionally focused webinar. 

Presentations were given by Rose Sousa Richards, co-Chairperson of the ePhyto IAG and Seed Health Manager of the International Seed Federation, Craig Fedchock, Senior Advisor to the IPPC Secretariat and Director of the IPPC’s ePhyto Solution Program, Josiah Syanda, Deputy Director of Kenya’s Plant Health Inspectorate Service and the African representative for the IPPC ePhyto Steering Group, as well as from Mary Ann Sayoc, President of the Philippine Seed Industry Association, Thelma Soriano, Director, SEED Regulatory Affairs at CropLife Asia and Carmela Rivera, Senior Agriculturalist of the Philippines’ Bureau of Plant Industry. 

As the Philippines’ National Plant Protection Organization is very close to coming fully onboard the IPPC ePhyto Solution, a number of questions were directed to Dr. Rivera, including priority countries for the Philippines’ digital exchanges, the overall next steps in the implementation process, and how to register businesses to the Philippines system. 

Related information:

The IPPC ePhyto Solution

The Global ePhyto Hub

The Generic ePhyto National System (GeNS)

Security of ePhytos

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