Two Regional Workshops for the Review of Draft International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs) will be held in Accra (FAO Regional Office) from 22 to 26 August 2005 for French speaking Africa and from 29 August to 02 September for English speaking Africa respectively.

The purpose of this consultation is to review the International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs). These draft ISPMs and the guidelines for submission of comments will be distributed by the International Plant Protection Convention Secretariat, to all National Plant Protection Organizations, Regional Plant Protection Organizations and the Permanent Representatives to FAO

The countries which will be represented at the French workshop are: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon,Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, Togo and Tunisia.

The countries which will be represented at the English workshop are: Botswana, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Mr. Oloche A. Edache FAO Assistant Director General/Regional Representative will give the welcome address, while the Minister of Food and Agriculture of Ghana will open the workshop.