25th Meeting of the Panel on General Standards on Efficacy Evaluation

Paris, 2025-02-26/28

 

 

The Panel on General Standards on Efficacy Evaluation considers all general aspects of data requirements for efficacy evaluation of plant protection products (PPPs) and promotes harmonisation of data requirements to facilitate communication and regulatory data exchange on PPPs between authorities in different countries and between industry (applicants). A list of members and the Terms of Reference of the Panel are available on the EPPO website.

 

The Panel meeting was held at EPPO Headquarters, on February 26–28, 2025. The meeting was opened by Ms Tikka (Director-General) and attended by the EPPO Scientific Officers Mr Lucchesi (Chair) and Mr Martinez Perez, 12 Panel members from 12 EPPO countries, and two industry representatives (CropLife Europe and the International Biocontrol Manufacturers' Association).

 

 

 

The Panel continued its work on preparing General Standards for conducting field trials to evaluate the efficacy of PPPs. The Panel worked on the development of four new General Standards:

  • PP 1 (NEW) Principles of effectiveness evaluation of PPP in a plant protection programme. The Standard will describe the principles to be followed when evaluating effectiveness of PPPs applied in a plant protection programme.
  • PP 1 (NEW) Assessing the adverse effects of PPP on russeting. This Standard will provide guidance on how to evaluate the symptoms of russeting in pome and other fruit crops.
  • PP 1 (NEW) Principles on how to perform trials on an adjuvant to determine its field of use. The Standard will provide guidance on how to generate efficacy data to support adjuvant claims in countries requiring adjuvant authorisation.
  • PP 1 (NEW) Generating sensitivity data for PPPs resistance monitoring. The Standard will assist efficacy evaluators and PPP applicants to understand when monitoring data are needed.

 

It is expected that the first three Standards will be sent for country consultation this year. The draft for resistance monitoring will need further discussion by the EPPO Expert Working Group on PPP Resistance.

 

The Panel also worked on the revision of three General Standards to update their requirements:

  • PP 1/242 Taint tests.
  • PP 1/243 Effects of plant protection products on transformation processes.
  • PP 1/269 Principles of efficacy evaluation for plant protection products based on low-risk substances.

 

It is expected that these revised Standards will be sent for country consultation this year.

 

The Panel was updated concerning the activities of the four Expert Working Groups (EWGs) working under its guidance: the EWG on Resistance to PPPs, the EWG on Harmonization of Data on PPPs, the EWG for the Extrapolation Database, and the EWG on Digital Technologies. The Panel appreciated the effort of these EWGs and acknowledged the improvements in the EPPO Database on Resistance Cases and the EPPO Database on PPP Data Extrapolation. The activities of the European Minor Uses Coordination Facility were also presented to the Panel.

 

The next meeting of the Panel is tentatively scheduled to take place in Paris towards the end of February 2026 (final dates to be confirmed).