DHAKA, Sept 9, 2022 (BSS)- A steering committee meeting on "Phytosanitary 
Trade Compliance in Bangladesh", a project supported by APAARI, USDA and 
USAID, was held in a city hotel this week to set a complete and an 
independent "National Plant Protection Authority" in the country.

In this regard, the steering committee members also made a discussion with 
the Inter-governmental Committee of Plant Quarantine Facilities (ICPQF) 
members, a press release said here today. 
 
To establish the "National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO)" in the 
country, the members emphasized on an integrated management system among all 
concerned departments and wings of the Department of Agricultural Extension 
(DAE), Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) as well as the Ministry of Commerce 
including all related public and private stakeholders at institutional level, 
the release added. 

The WTO-SPS International Standards and Rules would be possible to maintain 
if Bangladesh come forward to strengthen their NPPO.

To enhance the trade of agricultural products at the United States and global 
markets in a sustainable manner, the WTO specified Standards and Rules need 
to be followed by Bangladesh under its SPS Agreement with WTO, the 
discussants added. 

Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI) 
Executive Secretary Dr Ravi Khetarpal and Project Manager and Senior 
Consultant Dr KS Varaprasad, DG of the DAE Md Benojir Alam and Joint 
Secretary (IC) Ministry of Agriculture Tajkera Khatun, Joint Secretary and 
Director-3 WTO-Cell, Ministry of Commerce Farhana Iris, Member Director 
(Planning and Evaluation) of BARC Dr Md Abdus Salam, Director PQW Dr Syed Md 
Rafiqul Amin and Director In-charge PPW Md Emdad Hossain Sheikh of the DAE, 
Dr S N Sushil Principal Scientist and Ex Plant Protection Advisor of the 
Government of India, Michael J Parr Bangladesh Trade Facilitation Project, 
Land O'Lakes, Project Management Specialist Mehedi Hasan of USAID, Tanvir 
Ahmed of USDA FAS, former DG of the DAE Md Asadullah, SPS Bangladesh Project 
Coordinator Dr AhsanUllah and other concerned high officials of the DAE and 
MoA attended the meeting. 

Earlier, APAARI Executive Secretary Dr Ravi Khetarpal met with the Minister 
of Agriculture Dr Muhammad Abdur Razzaque to discuss on how to boost 
Bangladeshi Agricultural Trade by compliance to SPS Agreement of WTO and also 
briefed him on USDA FAS outputs and the need to establish a National Plant 
Quarantine Authority.