A pest list is one of the things an importing country would like to know about an agricultural commodity before it starts trading in it. For instance if Japan wants to import pumpkins from Samoa they would like to see a pest list for pumpkin in Samoa before trading begins. This information alerts agricultural officials in Japan of the danger of any new pests not present in Japan that could threaten Japanese agriculture. It will allow them to put in place a quarantine framework within which trading can take place safely.

Up till now days or weeks of painstaking work are spent to produce a list of pests for an agricultural trade commodity and even then it might not be complete. This is now a thing of the past with the establishment of a new system where a pest list is produced at the press of a few computer keys.

Samoa is now one of seven Pacific island countries that is currently road testing the Pest List Database (PLD).

Developed by SPC Plant Protection Service in close consultation with Pacific island Ministries of Agriculture the PLD is an information system that stores data on pest occurrences within a country. Its main use is the production of an instant ‘List of Pests’ for any agricultural commodity for which trade is planned.

The first prototype was introduced in January 2002. Samoa is a special case as this was where the system was first tested.

A 3-day ‘refresh and upgrade’ workshop at Nu’u Crop Development Centre in the first week of September focused on PLD management skills. Participants from Quarantine and Plant Protection Sections of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forests, Fisheries and Meteorology (MAFF&M) brushed up their skills using the latest upgrade of the system, which has changed, especially on the quarantine side, since the prototype was first introduced in 2002.

Seumanutafa Asuao Malaki Iakopo, CEO for MAFF&M was on hand to close the workshop. In his closing speech he drew attention to the most important issue: using the system for better plant protection and trade for Samoa.

“As head of the Ministry I would like to see that you are well equipped with the relevant skills and knowledge so that you can perform your duties effectively and efficiently. One way of achieving that is through training of this kind. Training is always important in any field of work.

I would like to acknowledge with gratitude the response from SPC that we get whenever the member countries ask for assistance. Sometimes we don't have or lack the capability to carry out our work but SPC is always prepared to lend and share its expertise.”

Pine Paenoa will now manage the PLD for Quarantine and Ms. Faalelei Tunupopo Laiti, with guidance from Senior Plant Pathologist Parate Matalavea, will deal with pest occurrence data from and for researchers and farmers.

Nine countries now have experience of using the PLD. Delegates from most of these countries are to meet within the Pacific Plant Protection Organisation Executive Committee meeting on 1^st October in Fiji to examine prospects for more efficient sharing of data in the interests of improved plant protection and trade facilitation.

Information about the PLD can be obtained from the afore mentioned MAFF&M staff members, or from the Secretariat of the Pacific Community PPS Website www.spc.int/pps or from Makelesi Kora-Gonelevu at makelesig@spc.int.