Gary is back from Geneva where, last week as President of the International Grain Trade Coalition (IGTC), he traveled to update corporate stakeholders and partners on the progress and activities of the coalition. A key point of discussion was the implementation of the Business Plan and outreach with new and existing members around the world. Regarding international policy work and the impact on the grain trade, the Geneva visit was particularly timely given current developments at global level, including:

• The digitization of trading documentation: milestone meetings are taking place on June 28-29 in Arlington and Washington D.C, when IGTC and representatives of other global trade flows including vegetables, seeds, cotton, will come together as the Advisory Group of the ePhyto Hub. 14 government representatives are expected to attend a briefing on the topic at the Canadian Embassy on 28th June.
• IPPC International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPM) for grain: The IPPC Standards Committee has launched a closed-door forum in order to allow its 25 members to share views on the draft ISPM for grain.
• The endorsement of the Global Low-Level Presence Initiative (GLI) of a new “practical approaches” statement.
• The IGTC’s position on MRLs was approved by Management Council on 6th June and is intended to be used as a reference point for global advocacy efforts for grain trade representatives.

A trip report for this travel will be available soon.