Symptoms	Main type of symptoms	Main symptoms of infection are lesions which appear as light yellow‐green spots or bands on needles. Later, the colour of infected tissues changes from yellow to brown then to grey‐brown. The fruiting bodies/stromata can be observed as lesions pustules on needles. The pathogen causes defoliation, stunt growth and mortality of nursery seedlings and young plants (Ivory and Wingfield, 1986; Sullivan, 2016). The most affected tissue is the foliage, especially in the lower crown. Dead needles usually remain on the tree for many months (Ivory and Wingfield, 1986). In 1‐ or 2‐year‐old plants, M. gibsonii infects mainly older foliage, causing lesions on needles (Sullivan, 2016) and later death (Itô, 1972).
	Presence of asymptomatic plants	The asymptomatic period can last from 2 to 5(6) weeks, depending on environmental conditions and susceptibility of the host to the pathogen (Ivory and Wingfield, 1986; Ivory, 1987; EPPO, 1997; Sullivan, 2016). However, if infections occur in autumn, the fungus may remain latent and plants will remain asymptomatic until the spring of the following year (Suto, 1982).
	Confusion with other pests	The symptoms caused by M. gibsonii are similar to the ones caused by closely related pine pathogens (e.g. Lecanosticta acicola, Dothistroma septosporum, Dothistroma pini and Sphaeropsis sapinea) (Quintero, 2015; EFSA PLH Panel, 2017). The species can be identified and distinguished using morphological (Evans, 1984; EPPO, 2015) and molecular methods (Quaedvlieg et al., 2012; EPPO, 2015).

Host plant range	Hosts of Mycosphaerella gibsonii are conifers: Abies procera, Larix kaempferi, Picea jezoensis, Pinus aristata, P. attenuata, P. canariensis, P. caribaea, P. contorta, P. densiflora, P. echinata, P. elliottii, P. flexilis, P. greggii, P. halepensis, P. jeffreyi, P. kesiya, P. lambertiana, P. luchuensis, P. massoniana, P. maximinoi, P. merkusii, P. morrisonicola, P. muricata, P. nigra, P. oocarpa, P. palustris, P. patula, P. pinaster, P. pinea, P. ponderosa, P. pseudostrobus, P. radiata, P. resinosa, P. roxburghii, P. strobus, P. sylvestris, P. taeda, P. taiwanensis, P. tecunumanii, P. thunbergii and P. wallichiana (Quintero, 2015). According to Farr and Rossman (online) and CABI (online), P. parviflora is a host of M. gibsonii. Other hosts listed by Farr and Rossman (online) and/or CABI (online) include Abies nobilis, Pinus armandii, P. ayacahuite, P. cembra, P. clausa, P. griffithii, P. hartwegii, P. kesiya var. langbianensis, P. mugo, P. rigida, P. tabulaeformis, P. tabuliformis and Tsuga canadensis. Abies sachalinensis, A. veitchii, Cedrus deodara, Picea glehnii and Pseudotsuga menziesii have been demonstrated as potential hosts through artificial inoculation (Quintero, 2015). According to Itô (1972), host susceptibility is as follows: – Highly susceptible hosts: Pinus aristata, P. attenuata, P. canariensis, P. contorta, P. flexilis, P. halepensis, P. jeffreyi, P. lambertiana, P. montana, P. muricata, P. murrayana, P. nigra, P. pinaster, P. pinca, P. ponderosa, P. radiata, P. resinosa, P. strobus and P. sylvestris. – Susceptible hosts: Pinus densiflora, P. echinata, P. luchuensis, P. massoniana and P. thunbergii. – Resistant hosts: Pinus caribaea, P. griffithii, P. patula, P. rigida, P. taeda and P. torreyana. After Second World War, the disease caused severe loss of pine seedlings in nurseries of Japan (Itô, 1972). The damage is usually on 1‐ and 2‐year‐old seedlings of Pinus caribaea, P. densiflora, P. taeda and P. thunbergii. In epidemic conditions between 50% and 80% infected seedlings are killed by this disease. In young plantations, Pinus halepensis, P. pinaster and P. radiata are attacked (Itô, 1972). On older trees of Pinus canariensis, P. radiata and P. roxburghii, the fungus caused significant needle blight (Ivory, 1994).
Reported evidence of impact	Mycosphaerella gibsonii is EU quarantine pest.
Evidence that the commodity is a pathway	According to Quintero (2015) and EFSA PLH Panel (2017), plants for planting are the main pathway. The pathogen is associated, even asymptomatically, with pine needles, including needles of P. parviflora. Therefore, the commodity is a pathway.
Surveillance information	Mycosphaerella gibsonii is recorded in Dossier Section 4.0 as a pathogen occurring in China. The nursery and its immediate vicinity area (at least 2 km) are inspected at least six times a year at appropriate intervals targeting pests of EU concern on their main and secondary hosts (Dossier Section 4.0). The survey shall be carried out at least by visual examination of each row in the field or nursery and by visual examination of all parts of the plant above the growing medium, using a random sample of at least 300 plants from a given genus where the number of plants of that genus is not more than 3,000 plants, or 10% of the plants if there are more than 3,000 plants from that genus (Dossier Section 4.0). Inspection shall be conducted to examine the presence or absence of harmful organisms of EU concern (Dossier Section 4.0).