In response to the global pandemic of Corona Virus which has resulted to global implementation of strict health and safety protocol as well as travel restriction, IPC organized the 26th Meeting of the IPC Committee on Quality via online platform on 15 July 2020. The Meeting which was opened by the Executive Director of the IPC, Mrs. Hoang Thi Lien, was attended by Member of the Committee on Quality from India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Viet Nam.
The Meeting was chaired by the Chairman of the IPC, Mr. Sathiyan Duraiswamy, Secretary of Spices Board Govt. of India and took upon the discussion of the recent ban of Chlorpyrifos and Chlorpyrifos-methyl by the EU Commission, the impact of the global pandemic to the pepper industry of respective country, update on Maximum Residue Limit as well as proposal of establishing the Specification of IPC Standard for Light Black Pepper Berries. During the Meeting, the Committee managed to finalize and adopt the Method of Analysis of Ochratoxin A using LC-MS/MS and HPLC, the Method of Sampling for Microbiological Analysis, as well as the IPC Standard Specification Aflatoxin Total for Black/White Pepper (Whole and Ground) and Whole/Dehydrated Green pepper.
Furthermore, the Meeting also took upon discussion on finalizing the Good Manufacturing Practices Booklet as well as discussion on alternative bio pesticides to counter the more stringent regulation on pesticide residue from the consuming market.
