7th Meeting of the Panel on Phytosanitary Inspections
Pordenone, IT, 2019-12-10/11
The Panel was hosted in Pordenone (IT) at the ERSA-Regional Agency for Rural Development offices in the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia.
Updating existing PM 3 Standards
The Panel reviewed an update of PM 3/76 Standard on trees of Malus, Pyrus, Cydonia, and Prunus spp. – Inspection of places of production, and agreed additional amendments and further work. The Panel also reviewed the first update of the PM 3 Standards: PM 3/81 Inspection of consignments for Xylella fastidiosa and PM 3/82 Inspection of places of production for Xylella fastidiosa. These updates incorporate new information from the EPPO diagnostic Standard PM 7/24 (4) Xylella fastidiosa. The Panel agreed to work on updates of PM 3/78 Consignment inspection of seed and grain cereals and PM 3/77 Vegetable plants for planting under protected conditions - Inspection of places of production.
Current PM 3 Standards under development
The Panel reviewed and finalised a draft PM 3 Standard on inspection of citrus fruit consignments and recommended that the Standard can be sent for country consultation early in 2020. The Panel also reviewed the progress on a draft inspection Standard on soil attached to plants and a draft inspection Standard on luggage and passenger controls and agreed further developments of these Standards in 2020.
Development of new inspection Standards
The Panel reviewed the proposal by the EPPO Panel on Invasive Alien Plants to produce a PM 3 Standard on inspection of invasive alien plants at borders. The Standard could provide inspectors with the required information to inspect, detect and confirm the presence of invasive alien plants. The Panel thought this was an interesting Standard to work on jointly with the Panel on Invasive Alien Plants.
Reviewing standard text in EPPO PM 3 Standards
The Panel considered a document reviewing standard text within the PM 3 series Standards and agreed to have an exercise during the 2020 Panel meeting where Panel members will populate templates for PM 3 Inspection of Places of Production and PM 3 Inspection of Consignments.
Online questionnaire to evaluate the use of PM 3 Inspection Standards
Panel finalised an online questionnaire to evaluate the use, effectiveness and quality of EPPO PM 3 Phytosanitary Procedures. The questionnaire will be sent to NPPOs and the information gathered will be used to improve the contents, structure and usage of EPPO PM 3 Standards.
2020 Workshop for Inspectors
The Panel discussed organising a Workshop for inspectors in 2020, the International Year of Plant Health. Several topics were highlighted that could be included as sessions in the Workshop including risk-based sampling, e-commerce, implementation of the European Regulation (EU) 2016/2013 and surveillance.