To maintain the relatively pest-free status of the Pacific Islands, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community’s Land Resources Division is raising the profile of quarantine in the lead up to the Pacific Games to be held in Western Samoa from August 25 to September 8. The Pacific is one of the last remaining areas of tropical paradise on earth.

It boasts a pristine environment, a rainbow of unique cultures and languages, and an ecosystem that is the backbone of the tourism, fishing and agriculture industries. Nature has blessed the Pacific with this unique environment, which must be protected to sustain livelihoods and growing island populations. Thousands of people will travel to our beautiful region this year for the biggest gathering of Pacific Islanders since the Pacific Arts Festival in Palau in 2004. The Pacific Games (formerly the South Pacific Games) are held every four years, and will take place in Apia from 25 August to 8 September 2007. Technical attachments To help with the clearance of athletes arriving for the Games, SPC is strengthening Samoa Quarantine by bringing in quarantine officers from the different regions of the Pacific on technical attachment. One officer from French Polynesia and three from Micronesia - Palau, Marshall Islands and FSM - will help with quarantine clearance of their respective nationals. They will also accompany Samoa Quarantine officials conducting pest surveillance and monitoring at Games venues. The technical attachments will provide much-needed help to Samoa Quarantine as well as serve as a learning exercise for the regional officers on quarantine issues at major Pacific events.

This is an initiative of the Pacific Plant Protection Organisation to foster closer relations with national biosecurity (quarantine) services of the Pacific Community and to help each other out in technical capacity building. Fragile Pacific environments The Pacific is relatively free of many serious pests and diseases that are found elsewhere in the world - a huge asset when negotiating overseas markets for Pacific products. Pests and diseases pose a threat to crops, livestock. They reduce yields and adversely affect the quality of agricultural products. Certain pests and diseases are found in some islands but not in others - for example, the taro beetle is found in Fiji but not in Samoa. Sound plant protection practices, including reliable national quarantine services backed by appropriate legislation, help reduce the threat posed by plant pests. For the Pacific Games thousands of visitors will be travelling to Samoa, and items carried in their luggage could pose a real threat to Samoa’s national biodiversity. The biggest risk is in the transport of food items, but plant products, cultural items and unclean sports equipment could also be dangerous. Educating the public on quarantine issues Recent incursions of new pests and diseases into some Pacific Islands have been the result of undeclared quarantine items at national borders, but X-ray machines are becoming common in major Pacific airports - and Samoa is one of them. The technology will pick up quarantine risk items, and if these items have not been declared, passengers might find themselves on the wrong side of the law. To help educate those planning to go to Samoa for the Pacific Games - and indeed the general traveling public - on quarantine matters, the Land Resources Division of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) is launching a media campaign in collaboration with regional heads of quarantine services in the Pacific. Aimed at getting travelers to declare items to quarantine, the awareness exercise will include a TV spot, a radio spot, brochures and strategic placement of quarantine messages in regional online services and magazines. National quarantine services will also conduct training of athletes on relevant issues. The campaign will be at its most visible in the few days prior to national contingents leaving for the Games. Usually there is an air of festivity swirling about at this time as governments, businesses, sponsors and the general public participate in send-off celebrations for their teams. Quarantine services aim to get their serious message across at the same time. The regional campaign is intended to prevent incursions of pests and diseases into Samoa. In Samoa itself, the quarantine service will be conducting its own media campaign targeting the general public with the message to be on the lookout at Games venues for possible new pests. SPC’s Land Resources Division is committed to preventing the spread of pests and diseases by raising the profile of quarantine at events where thousands of Pacific Islanders gather, such as the Pacific Games. We need to prevent the trans-border movement of quarantine risk items if we are to maintain the relatively pest-free status of the Pacific Islands. * SPC acknowledges the European Union for its funding of this targeted.

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