The Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service has announced that the country is to host the global plant quarantine community in Abuja. The forum is to discuss critical issues and challenges of plant health, food quality and food security. This was disclosed in a press statement made available to THISDAY recently and signed by the Head of Media, Communication and Strategies, Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), Dr. Chigozie Nwodo, in Lagos.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha, is expected to declare the Technical Consultation open. Delegates at the Technical Consultation would comprise heads of plant protection bodies across the globe as well as staff members of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) Secretariat domiciled in the Food Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Rome.
Nwodo, said, the African Delegation to the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM) deferentially conceded the right to host the 31st TC to Nigeria at the 12th session of the CPM in Incheon City, South Korea, in 2017, following efforts by the DG NAQS, Dr. Vincent Isegbe
According to the statement, “this Technical Consultation is the very first to be held in Africa.
“As the National Plant Protection Organisation for Nigeria, the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) has the honour to host the historic assembly on behalf of the country and the continent.
“The 31st Technical Consultation among Regional Plant Protection Organisation (RPPOs) will place the spotlight on the Nigerian plant health system and cast into bold relief Nigeria’s remarkable stature and standing in the international quarantine arena.”
On the sidelines of the event, Isegbe, would advance interactions with potential partners to secure multiple points of access for Nigerian agricultural commodities in the export market.
The event would attract senior plant quarantine policy makers and administrators from all regions of the world to meet in Nigeria for the 31st Technical Consultation among Regional Plant Protection Organization (RPPOs) from Monday 21 to Friday 25 October 2019.
