Beyond compliance: project on an integrated systems approach for pest risk management in South East Asia

Abstract

The Beyond Compliance project, which began in July 2011 with funding from the Standards and Trade Development Facility for 2 years, aims to enhance competency and confidence in the South East Asian sub‐region by applying a Systems Approach for pest risk management. The Systems Approach involves the use of integrated measures, at least two of which are independent, that cumulatively reduce the risk of introducing exotic pests through trade. Although useful in circumstances where single measures are inappropriate or unavailable, the Systems Approach is inherently more complicated than single‐measure approaches, which may inhibit its uptake. The project methodology is to take prototype decision‐support tools, such as Control Point‐Bayesian Networks (CP‐BN), developed in recent plant health initiatives in other regions, including the European PRATIQUE project, and to refine them within this sub‐regional context. Case studies of high‐priority potential agricultural trade will be conducted by National Plant Protection Organizations of participating South East Asian countries in trials of the tools, before further modifications. Longer term outcomes may include: more robust pest risk management in the region (for exports and imports); greater inclusion of stakeholders in development of pest risk management plans; increased confidence in trade negotiations; and new opportunities for trade.

Bayesian Networks to Compare Pest Control Interventions on Commodities Along Agricultural Production Chains

“…In the Vietnam case study, for example, the plant protection officers and dragon fruit farmers did so equally well . If the system of measures and pest infestation levels were described using only mathematical equations, they would be less generally accessible . The fact that Bayesian network models can provide a simple and clear visual representation of potentially complex systems, involving many variables and interrelationships, makes them particularly appealing as a modeling framework in a biosecurity context when stakeholders with diverse backgrounds need to be engaged.…”

“…The work described here was carried out as part of the project called “Beyond Compliance” funded by the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF). The project aims to enhance competency and confidence for NPPOs in the South East Asian subregion to apply systems approaches to reduce the risk of introducing regulated pests through trade.…”

Eliciting and Combining Decision Criteria Using a Limited Palette of Utility Functions and Uncertainty Distributions: Illustrated by Application to Pest Risk Analysis

“…Simpler PRA schemes with fewer criteria and/or few rating levels may offer more scope for the development of BNs, and the approach was further explored for such a potential scheme within the Prima phacie project. BNs with relatively simple structures and three rating levels are also being developed to model the effect of alternative management measures on risk of pest infestation along a commodity production and export chain …”

A Regional Decision Support Scheme for Pest Risk Analysis in Southeast Asia

“…To validate the traits suggested by the scientific experts and verify the proposed DSS applicable for routine PRA use in SE Asia, plant health officers in the region were consulted through an expert elicitation workshop. The workshop was held in Bangkok, Thailand, from 29th July to 2nd August 2013 in conjunction with the project “Beyond Compliance: Integrated Systems Approach for Pest Risks Management in Southeast Asia” (STDF/PG/328) . Officers from the plant health ministries of Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines, experts from Imperial College London, Queensland University of Technology, and the Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI), and representatives from the FAO–IPPC, and the FAO–Asia, and the Pacific Plant Protection Commission (APPPC) attended the meeting.…”