UNECE to Provide a New Pest and Disease Guide

摘要

The "Specialized Section on Standardization of Seed Potatoes" of the Economic Commission for Europe, (UNECE) held its 41st session in Geneva, March 11-13, 2013. Seed certification officials of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Netherlands, Russian Federation, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and United States of America attended the meeting as well as a representative of the European Union. The funding for the certification official from the US is from the US Potato Board on request from the Seed Certification and Disease Manage ment Sub-Committee of the National Potato Council. At the beginning of the meeting the division director said that over the past several years the SpecializedSection had made very good progress on developing the UNECE Standard for Seed Potatoes. This international recommendation on the commercial quality of seed potatoes was meant to prevent technical barriers to trade in this very important product. The UNECE Standard provided a useful framework for the international movement of clean planting material. That, in turn, contributed to food security and higher income for farmers.