TABLE 7.
Selected supporting measures (a full list is available in EFSA PLH Panel, 2018) in relation to currently unregulated hosts and pathways. Supporting measures are organisational measures or procedures supporting the choice of appropriate risk reduction options that do not directly affect pest abundance.
| Supporting measure (Blue underline = Zenodo doc, Blue = WIP) | Summary | Risk element targeted (entry/establishment/spread/impact) |
|---|---|---|
| Inspection and trapping |
Inspection is defined as the official visual examination of plants, plant products or other regulated articles to determine if pests are present or to determine compliance with phytosanitary regulations (ISPM 5). The effectiveness of sampling and subsequent inspection to detect pests may be enhanced by including trapping and luring techniques. This would only be effective on developed infections. Early infections would not show symptoms. |
Establishment/Spread |
| Laboratory testing |
Examination, other than visual, to determine if pests are present using official diagnostic protocols. Diagnostic protocols describe the minimum requirements for reliable diagnosis of regulated pests. Laboratory tests would detect asymptomatic infections. |
Entry/Establishment/Spread |
| Sampling |
According to ISPM 31, it is usually not feasible to inspect entire consignments, so phytosanitary inspection is performed mainly on samples obtained from a consignment. It is noted that the sampling concepts presented in this standard may also apply to other phytosanitary procedures, notably selection of units for testing. For inspection, testing and/or surveillance purposes the sample may be taken according to a statistically based or a non‐statistical sampling methodology. Important to sample symptomatic plants if detected. |
Entry/Establishment/Spread |
| Phytosanitary certificate and plant passport | An official paper document or its official electronic equivalent, consistent with the model certificates of the IPPC, attesting that a consignment meets phytosanitary import requirements (ISPM 5)
|
Entry/Spread |
| Certified and approved premises |
Mandatory/voluntary certification/approval of premises is a process including a set of procedures and of actions implemented by producers, conditioners and traders contributing to ensure the phytosanitary compliance of consignments. It can be a part of a larger system maintained by the NPPO in order to guarantee the fulfilment of plant health requirements of plants and plant products intended for trade. Key property of certified or approved premises is the traceability of activities and tasks (and their components) inherent the pursued phytosanitary objective. Traceability aims to provide access to all trustful pieces of information that may help to prove the compliance of consignments with phytosanitary requirements of importing countries. This would be helpful in reducing infection by the pest. |
Entry/Spread |
| Certification of reproductive material (voluntary/official) |
Plants come from within an approved propagation scheme and are certified pest free (level of infestation) following testing; Used to mitigate against pests that are included in a certification scheme. This would be helpful in reducing infection by the pest. |
Entry/Spread |
| Delimitation of Buffer zones |
ISPM 5 defines a buffer zone as “an area surrounding or adjacent to an area officially delimited for phytosanitary purposes in order to minimise the probability of spread of the target pest into or out of the delimited area, and subject to phytosanitary or other control measures, if appropriate” (ISPM 5). The objectives for delimiting a buffer zone can be to prevent spread from the outbreak area and to maintain a pest free production place (PFPP), site (PFPS) or area (PFA). This would be helpful in reducing infection by the pest, especially if buffer zones are kept free of host plants such as Tephrosia vogelii, Sesbania cinerascens, Cassia elata and Acacia spp., which support population build‐up of the pest (Gnanapragasham & Mohotti, 2018). |
Spread |
| Surveillance |
Surveillance to guarantee that plants and produce originate from a Pest Free Area could be an option. This would be helpful in reducing infection by the pest. |
Spread |