Plant Health Inspectors from Border Posts and In-Land Offices Drilled in Pest Risk Analysis

The Department of Agricultural Research Services is currently conducting a pest risk analysis for plant health inspectors from border posts and in-land offices.

Director of Agricultural Research Services, Dr. Charles Singano emphasized that the training would help impart Pest Risk Analysis skills to Plant Health inspectors for use during importation of agricultural commodities into the country. A total of 17 Plant Health Inspectors are currently attending the week-long training in Salima.

The Department of Agricultural Research Services (DARS) is one of the three sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agencies that is responsible for phytosanitary issues (Plant health issues) in the facilitation of trade. The agency has Plant Health Inspectors, who are stationed at entry and exit points as well as in-land Produce Inspection offices to provide phytosanitary services on plants and plant products that are exported out of Malawi as well as imported into the country. The department is responsible for issuance of Phytosanitary Certificates and Plant Import Permits.

To ensure safe trade and to ensure that proposed phytosanitary measures are justifiable and hence are not tantamount to trade barriers, the department conducts pest risk analysis (PRA). The PRA helps the department as the national plant protection organization to understand the phytosanitary status in the exporting country that culminate into establishing science based phytosanitary controls that reduce the risk from unacceptable to acceptable thereby prevent the introduction of alien pests into areas where they do not exist.

The training will help minimize delays in phytosanitary provision and resolve related challenges exporters and importers face, hence facilitating regional and international trade. It was noted that most Plant Health Inspectors are not familiar with PRA as a trade facilitation tool. This compromises the efficiency of phytosanitary service delivery through delayed issuance of Plant Import Permits.

The training is also expected to benefit recently recruited plant health inspectors by including old inspectors to ease knowledge sharing.