25^th  Meeting of the Panel on Phytosanitary Measures for Potato

Paris, 2019-02-13/14

The 25^th meeting of the Panel on Phytosanitary Measures for Potato took place at EPPO Headquarters in Paris on 2019-02-13/14. The Panel considered the comments received during country consultation on Standard PM 3/21 Post-entry quarantine for potato and finalized a version to be presented for approval at the Working Party on Phytosanitary Regulations.

Standards under development:

• Management of phytosanitary risks for potato crops from movement of soil with root crops for packaging or processing: the draft was provided to the potato processing industry (Europatat and EUPPA) to gather preliminary comments. The Panel improved the draft, it will be circulated for comments to European organizations dealing with other root crops (e.g. sugar beet and root vegetables). A working group will meet in July to further develop the Standard.
• Control of volunteer potato plants: this Standard describes a procedure for the management of potato volunteer potato plants in the framework of official control of regulated pests. The Panel discussed the first draft.
• Testing of potato varieties to assess resistance to Synchytrium endobioticum: the working group carry on the preliminary work by correspondence. A physical meeting is planned before the Workshop on Synchytrium endobioticum (Wageningen, NL, 2019-06-26/28) .

The Panel reviewed all Standards on potato developed in the past and identified needs for revision. The National Regulatory Control Systems for Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. sepedonicus (Standard PM 9/2) and Ralstonia solanacearum (PM 9/3) will be discussed at the next Panel meeting.

The Panel was updated on the situation of Tecia solanivora in Spain. Finally, the Panel was informed about Euphresco projects related to potato.

The next Panel meeting is planned for 2020-02-18/20.