The term "plant protection" refers broadly to any activity, including quarantine measures, which seeks to control plant pests and diseases in a country and at its borders by (a) detecting and monitoring (b) adjusting strategies and methods of protection (including regulation of pesticides, integrated pest management or other similar techniques and methods); (c) forecasting attacks and disseminating information; and/or (d) supporting counter measures (individual or collective).
The technical terms used are defined in the International Plant Protection Convention ("plants" pests"), for which FAO is the depositary, and the International Code of Conduct on the Distribution and Use of Pesticides ("pesticides"), a voluntary instrument adopted by FAO's Member States.¹
¹ See, Information Brief on Pesticide Legislation (FAO Legal Office).
Legal standards have been promulgated and techniques mastered to protect plant cultures and prevent the spread of diseases and pests through an effective system of plant protection. Other principal elements in effective plant protection generally include administrative planning and law, establishment of operational and accountable institutions such as a National Plant Protection Service (NPPS), and systematic application of scientific knowledge and technical practices. When economic interests are involved, the legal and administrative aspects of plant protection may he determinative. In effect, the powers given to an NPPS to monitor and act, including search, seizure and forfeiture powers, may significantly constrain the exercise of certain fundamental rights. With additional knowledge of pest distribution, biological data on pests and hosts and the development of quarantine treatments and other procedures, it has been possible to make quarantine laws and regulations more biologically sound and, consequently, less obstructive to international trade. However, quarantine laws and regulations have not evolved uniformly and, many countries, lack either basic legislation or regulations to regulate imports. This has caused considerable disruption in the international trade of agricultural products and often quarantine measures have become unnecessary harriers to trade.
As the objective of plant quarantine is to become a filter, not an obstacle to trade, it is necessary to ensure that quarantine laws and regulations are scientifically based. The International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) addresses this under its Article VI, Part 2 (In order to minimize interference with international trade, quarantine measures should be based on phytosanitary considerations).
To be effective, the plant protection system relies on various legal norms. These may be simple to understand but complicated to implement. This collection of legal norms permits countries to, among others:
· address disease and pest problems at the local, national or international levels;· create the administrative and technical infrastructure necessary to implement technical regulations elaborated either at the national level or as a result of international directives (notably those of the FAO);
· use, where actual technical knowledge permits, appropriate means to combat diseases and pests;
· introduce a climate of legal stability and confidence into plant trade and protect the consumer with standards regulating quality and manufacture of products intended for consumption;
· hold liable, by indemnisation or appropriate sanctions, those responsible for damage to plant protection.
Without a basis in legislation, even under optimal technical conditions, the NPPS cannot legally conduct its activities in a state where the rule of law prevails and where the sphere of public power is circumscribed by a constitution (or equivalent fundamental text). In common law countries in particular, the NPPS itself, its powers and actions will be subjected to varying levels of review and scrutiny by the judiciary, both from a substantive and a procedural point of view.
The collection of legal norms which organises a system of plant protection constitutes the country's plant protection legislation. Like all legislation, it should be related directly to the economic, social and legal situation of the country. If it is not, although it may be "legal, it will be neither appropriate nor implementable.
