TWO Biosecurity officers from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock’s Biosecurity Department are presently in Australia on a 5 Week Study Tour.
The Study Program is a Pacific Plant Biosecurity Partnership (PPBP) Workshop, which is helping to build stronger plant biosecurity networks at home and abroad.
As part of the Solomon Islands Biosecurity Development Program, Phase Two (SIBDP), participants from Biosecurity Solomon Islands were involved in training on ‘Biosecurity and Market Access’, including a trade simulation exercise designed around the commercial import and export trade market.
The PPBP study program is funded by ACIAR (Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research) and project partners, which invited, and are hosting, Julianne Mose and Gideon Suda in Australia.
The Australian Government initiative, SIBDP is delivered by the Australian Department of Agriculture and Water Resources and has delivered biosecurity capacity building activities in Solomon Islands since 2013. The program is designed to test the sustainability of Solomon Islands biosecurity, continue to strengthen Biosecurity Solomon Islands (BSI) capability and, enhance engagement of government and industry stakeholders on biosecurity management and market access planning.
The Project Leader, Bill Magee, said “The Pacific Plant Biosecurity Partnership is a capacity development program that will draw on Australian and New Zealand expertise to strengthen the skills and capacity of professionals working in the Pacific region.
The program draws upon the methodology and experience of previous successful training funded by ACIAR in Africa and is targeting biosecurity agencies in Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Tonga, Samoa, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Timor Leste and the Pacific Community.
The program is actively promoting the importance of the relationship between plant biosecurity and food security, as well as strengthening the case for increased investment from both public and private sectors”.
The program is managed by one of the project partners, Kalang Consultancy Services – a company with a longstanding and ongoing involvement in the delivery and improvement of plant biosecurity capability in the Pacific region
The Biosecurity Solomon Island representatives, Julianne and Gideon, last week completed the first week’s participation workshop in Brisbane, which included Market Access Simulation exercise, Core Plant Biosecurity, Trade Simulation exercise, Control and Eradication Strategies and Developing and Fostering Partnerships.
The Study Program continues for another 4 weeks throughout Australia.
Source: Biosecurity, Solomon Islands
