EPPO activities on resistance to plant protection products

The loss of performance of a plant protection product because of the development of resistance in the target pest can be costly to the grower, the crop protection company and the environment. Registration authorities and crop protection companies recognize that the risk of resistance can be reduced by suitable management strategies, and that it is in their interests to protect the efficacy of products.

Septoria leaf bloch

Green peach aphid

Apple scab

Canadian horseweed

EPPO Standard on Resistance Risk Analysis

In Europe, according to EC Regulation 1107/2009 concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market, the proper use of products depends on application of the principles of good plant protection practice and, whenever possible, integrated control. It thus includes all considerations concerning resistance risk assessment, resistance monitoring, resistance strategy and resistance management. Through the activities guided by the Working Party on Plant Protection Products, EPPO has many years of experience of developing international standards to support plant protection product registration (particularly efficacy evaluation standards). Following the recommendations made during an EPPO Workshop on Workshop on Resistance Risk Analysis (Poznan, Poland, 2000-06-06/08), the Working Party on Plant Protection Products recognized a need for EPPO to develop and expand its activities on resistance. The ad hoc Panel on Resistance Risk Assessment was reconstituted and became a permanent Resistance Panel on Plant Protection Products with terms of reference and new tasks to accomplish.  As a result of this work,  the first version of the EPPO Standard on Resistance Risk Analysis (PP 1/213) was approved in 1999, and subsequently revised.  This Standards describes how the risk of resistance to plant protection products can be assessed and, if appropriate, systems for risk management can be proposed, in the context of official registration of plant protection products.

PP 1/213 – Resistance Risk Analysis
The lastest versions can be accessed from the EPPO database on PP1 Standards  

EPPO Database on Resistance Cases

The EPPO Database on Resistance Cases aims to share information on documented resistance cases among the authorities responsible for registration of plant protection products across the EPPO region and between authorities and other stakeholders. The added value of this database, when compared to other existing databases, is the inclusion, in addition to published and well-known cases, of information about early detection of resistance cases, as well as resistance cases that occur locally that are based on data even if this data is limited. The information presented in the database is made available after validation by the EPPO Expert Working Group on Resistance to Plant Protection Products.

Access Database: https://resistance.eppo.int  

EPPO Workshops

Since 2000, EPPO has organized several Workshops on resistance. The aim of these international Workshops is to share information, identify gaps in knowledge and identify research needs, avoid unnecessary duplication of work (e.g. resistance monitoring efforts), and  develop recommendations on resistance management for EPPO countries. The following EPPO Workshops have taken place, and for the most recent ones, their conclusions and recommendations can be found in our section about EPPO meetings.

Workshop on Resistance Risk Analysis (Poznan, Poland, 2000-06-06/08) 

Workshop on the Interpretation and Use of the EPPO Standard on Resistance Risk Analysis- PP 1/213 (Bologna, Italy, 2004-10-19/20)

Ad hoc EPPO Workshop on insecticide resistance of Meligethes spp. (pollen beetle) on oilseed rape (Berlin, 2007-09-03/05)

EPPO Workshop on Azole fungicides and Septoria leaf blotch control (Harpenden, United Kingdom, 2010-12-07/09 )

EPPO Workshop on Herbicide Resistance Analysis in the framework of Zonal Evaluation (Berlin, 2012-10-23/25)

Useful links

FAO

• FAO – Technical Guidelines for the implementation of the International Code of Conduct on Pesticide management
• FAO – FAO Guidelines on Prevention and Management of Pesticide Resistance (September 2012)

Resistance Action Committees (RACs)

• FRAC – Fungicide Resistance Action Committee
• IRAC – Insecticide Resistance Action Committee
• HRAC – Herbicide Resistance Action Committee
• RRAC – Rodenticide Resistance Action Committee

Regional / National Resistance Action Groups

• EWRS-EHRWG – European Weed Research Society and European Herbicide Resistance Working Group
• European Pesticide Resistance Platform (EUResist) – ENDURE
• Gruppo Italiano Resistanza Erbicidi (GIRE)
• Nordic Baltic Resistance Action Group (NORBARAG)
• German Expert Committees on Pesticide Resistance (JKI)
• Sociedad Española de Malherbología
• Sociedad Española de Entomología Aplicada (SEEA)
• Insecticide RAG of the BeNeLux
• Dutch Fungicide Resistance Action Group
• Resistance and Reflection Ring on Pesticide Resistance (R4P)

Other useful resistance databases

• Arthropod Pesticide Resistance Database (APRD)
• HRAC/Weed Science Society of America: worldwide survey of herbicide resistant weeds