The phytosanitary regulations are governed, at international level, by the International Plant Protection Convention, IPPC, administered by FAO, and in harmony with the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures (SPS) of the WTO. According to these convention and agreement, it is recognized that countries may exercise the sovereign right to utilize phytosanitary measures to regulate the entry of plants and plant products capable of harbouring plant pests. For the sake of transparency, countries have to publish their restrictions and requirements. In addition, they also have to notify changes and, except in urgent circumstances, countries have to allow a reasonable interval between the publication of a regulation and its entry into force to allow exporting countries to adapt their products and methods of production. Finally, as conditions change and as new facts become available, phytosanitary measures have to be modified possibly by removal of those found to be unnecessary.

If all these principles are indisputable, unfortunately their implementation is often questionable. Countries often do not publish lists of quarantine pests and from time to time add new pests without notice, blocking shipment at the port of entry; they change their rules without new technical justification and without allowing enough time to fulfil the new requirements; finally they are also very reluctant to change their rules when new facts indicate for instance that maintaining a pest on a quarantine list is no longer justified.

In order to limit these trade barriers as much as possible, ISF is working at several levels:

• At technical levels, by developing testing methods for seed-borne diseases and Pest Risk Analysis for possible non-justified quarantine pests. This is done by the ISHIs.
• At national level, ISF has established a procedure to react quickly in case a new problem arises in a country. This procedure is implemented with the participation of the national seed association of that country.
• At international level, in being active at the IPPC level, where we have an observer status.

However, despite these actions and the international treaties, I am afraid that the phytosanitary issues will remain worrying in the future and we have had several examples recently in several countries.

The new development against exotic species is also to be linked to these phytosanitary issues. New regulations, often dictated by dogmatic conservation biologists may have a very detrimental effect on the seed industry and the international seed trade.