26th Meeting of the EPPO Panel on Invasive Alien Plants

Teleconference, 2021-05-07/09

 

The 26th meeting of the EPPO Panel on Invasive Alien Plants was conducted by teleconference.

Standards

The Panel reviewed comments from country consultation for two revised Standards: PM 9/7(2) Ambrosia artemisiifolia and PM 9/8(2) Pontederia crassipes (formerly Eichhornia crassipes). In addition, the Panel reviewed comments from country consultation for a new PM 9 Standard on Ambrosia trifida. The Panel agreed that all these Standards can be sent to the Working Party on Phytosanitary Regulations (WPPR) and to the EPPO Council for approval.

 

The Panel agreed to continue the development of an Inspection Standard on invasive alien plants at borders which can also include inspections at nurseries.

 

The Panel reviewed a draft Standard on field assessment of plant invasiveness. The proposed document describes a process to facilitate standardised data acquisition by plant experts in sentinel sites, wherein invasion by an emerging alien plant and potential impacts on cultivated (e.g. agricultural and amenity sites) or natural environments are suspected. The Panel discussed the assessment and agreed that it is important to test the protocol under field conditions over the course of the next year.

 

Pest Risk Analysis

In 2021, due to the COVID-19 situation, EPPO and experts from the Panel on Invasive alien plants conducted its first online Expert Working Group (EWG) for PRA on Celastrus orbiculatus (Celastraceae). The Panel reviewed the Express PRA and agreed with the EWG that the species can be recommended as an EPPO A2 Pest. This recommendation will be sent to the WPPR for approval.

 

The Panel discussed priorities for PRA for 2021/22 and agreed that Solanum viarum (Solanaceae) and Solanum carolinense can be presented to the WPPR as priorities. Both species could be assessed in a combined EWG. The Panel also discussed the potential of conducting a PRA on Paulownia tomentosa (Paulowniaceae) but noted the lack of data on impacts anywhere in its non-native range. The Panel agreed to add this species to the Alert List and contact experts in North America (where it is non-native) to enquire if there is any grey literature on impact data.

 

Bamboo species in the EPPO region

The Panel considered a review document on invasive bamboo species in the EPPO region and agreed that the document should be further developed to include additional information on specific bamboo species from EPPO countries. A number of Panel members offered their support, and an output of this work could be a review paper in the EPPO Bulletin.

 

EPPO Lists of invasive plants

The Panel discussed the descriptions for the lists of invasive alien plants and suggested some amendments. The Panel agreed to form a small sub-group to brainstorm on different scenarios for updating the lists of invasive alien plants and explore the implications that changes may have on the EPPO Prioritization Process. It was agreed that different scenarios along with their advantages and disadvantages will be presented at the next Panel meeting.