By Mukaba Mukaba
10 January 2022, Lusaka, Zambia – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
through a Technical Cooperation Program (TCP) is supporting the Ministry of Agriculture Plant Quarantine
Phytosanitary Service (PQPS) Department to strengthen the safe trade of plants and plant products in
Zambia. The TCP aims at strengthening the capacity of the Plant Health Inspectorate Services to provide
reliable, modern, evidence based and comprehensive inspection services for agricultural produce destined
for both national and international markets. It will further strengthen PQPS to enhance facilitation of safe
trade of plants and plant products.
A capacity building workshop for over 50 Plant Health Inspectors
(PHIs) on “International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures and
the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Agreement on the
Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures is being held
in Chisamba to enhance the application of international standards
and measures that will achieve Appropriate level of Protection for
plant life or health while facilitating safe trade and provide a
platform for domestication and application of standards at national
level.
Speaking during the launch of the capacity building workshop,
Suze-Percy Filippini, FAO Country Representative informed
stakeholders that FAO has allocated $400,000 as financial support
to the PQPS department to undertake the capacity building and
training programmes aimed at providing reliable, modern,
evidence-based and comprehensive inspection services for
agricultural produce destined for both local and international
markets.
Zambia is a signatory to the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC). One of the key activities of
the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) is to establish international standards for
phytosanitary measures (ISPMs). The IPPC encourages adoption of these standards, but they only come
into force once contracting (members) and non-contracting parties establish requirements in national
legislative instruments. PQPS is obliged under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Sanitary and
Phytosanitary (SPS) trade agreements as well as agreements within the region to comply with
internationally recognized standards.
