Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 5 • Number 10 • 27th May 2005

Experts Identify Regulatory Gaps for Invasive Alien Species

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At the meeting of the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Gaps and Inconsistencies in the International Regulatory Frameworks on Invasive Alien Species on 16-20 May in New Zealand, the world’s leading experts on invasive alien species (IAS) identified missing components and lack of coherence in international regulatory framework in relation to IAS and discussed practical options to enhance policy coherence. The meeting was convened in response to a mandate adopted at the Seventh Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) in February 2004 (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 20 February 2005). The major regulatory gap identified in the lead-up to the meeting was the lack of international standards related to invasive animal species that do not qualify as plant pests under the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC). The Office International des Epizooties (OIE, the World Organization for Animal Health) manages risks associated with animal diseases but does not include species that may be IASs. To address this, experts explored the option of including guidelines under existing international conventions such as the CBD. Alternatively, they raised the possibility of expanding the scope of the OIE or broadening the definition of animal diseases to include IAS. In addition to ensuring regulatory coordination, the Expert Group also stressed that capacity limitations in developing countries — including financing, the infrastructure and skilled labour — remained one of the major obstacles to effective implementation of regulations.

International trade in goods is one of the main gateways for the introduction of alien invasive species into ecosystems. However, IAS cause significant economic costs for agriculture, irrigation and hydropower, freshwater fisheries, forestry and health, and after habitat destruction represent the most important cause of biodiversity loss. According to IUCN, a sample of global economic costs of damage from IAS is $137 billion per year. Under WTO rules, measures to control the spread of IAS are covered by the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures of the World Trade Organisation (the SPS Agreement). The SPS Agreement encourages Members to use standards and guidelines identified by international standard-setting bodies, naming in particular the IPPC, the OIE, and the Codex Alimentarius Commission.

Documents from the meeting can be found at http://www.biodiv.org/doc/meeting.aspx?mtg=AISTEGGI-01

ICTSD reporting; ” The Basics On Alien Invasive Species,” IUCN.ORG, 26 May 2005.