An international event in Australia
AuSPICA, on behalf of the Australian Seed Potato Council, will host the technical meeting of the UNECE specialised section of seed potatoes in Melbourne Australia in 1-4 April 2014.
About the UNECE Standard
UNECE standards harmonize existing national commercial quality standards for perishable produce to:
- Facilitate fair international trade and prevent technical barriers to trade
- Improve producers' profitability and encourage production of high-quality produce
- Protect consumer interests.
The UNECE Working Party and its four Specialized Sections (one of which includes seed potatoes) provide a forum where countries can discuss all issues relating to commercial quality that may arise in their domestic markets and have implications for international trade. The Working Party offers assistance to countries by organizing workshops on the harmonization of national with international commercial standards.
Work on the UNECE Standard for Seed Potatoes (“the Standard”) began in 1958.
The goal of the Standard is to act as a world reference intended to facilitate fair international trade by:
- Creating a harmonized certification system
- Promoting its use
- Defining harmonized quality requirements for seed potatoes.
To reach this goal the Standard covers the following requirements controlled by certification:
- Varietal identity and purity
- Genealogy and traceability
- Diseases and pests
- External quality and physiology
- Szing and labelling.
As a consequence, the Standard considers issues falling under the World Trade Organisation Technical Barriers to Trade agreement as well as under the World Trade Organisation Sanitary and phytosanitary agreement.
For more information about the UNECE seed potato meeting in Melbourne contact auspica@www.auspica.org.au
