Risk Categorisation in Plant Health

Pest categorization is the process for determining whether a pest has or has not the characteristics of a quarantine pest or those of a regulated non-quarantine pest [ISPM 11:2001].

Risk assessors in the EU work in the framework of European Food Safety Agency in Parma (EFSA) and of European Plant Protection Organisation in Paris (EPPO). Several working groups at the European Commission, including a standing committee on plants, as risk managers then decide in which category a specific pest and its host plants and pathways are regulated.

Once we have got a list of quarantine pests and a list of RNQPs, these shall be under the official control of plant health competent authorities (the IPPC term is National Plant Protection Organisation – NPPO) in production and trade, at import and export. Unless these are the Union priority pests, categorisation of risk is done by NPPOs to prioritise their actions like monitoring, surveys, import inspections, controls of registered operators, etc.

In the European Union we have got regulated more than 300 quarantine species of bacteria, fungi and oomycetes, insects and mites, nematodes, parasitic plants, viruses, viroids and phytoplasmas, which attack tousands of plant species. Every NPPO needs to adjust its phytosanitary actions according to their resources and therefore focus on most important risks at border controls and in inland controls.

Workshop on Risk Categorisation in Plant Health in Veles, MK (12/13 December 2019) has addressed the following topics:

1	Welcome address, Dr. Mentor Zekiri, Director of Phytosanitary Directorate, Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Water Economy
2	Phytosanitary component in the project EuropeAid/139253/DH/SER/MK Speaker: Vlasta Knapič, Key Phytosanitary Expert
3	Structure and operation of National Plant Protection Organization in North Macedonia Speakers: Nadica Djerkovska, Head of Plant Health Sector
4	Quarantine pests in North Macedonia State of play, Pest status and new legislationamendments of List of pests, plants, plant products and other objects and items  (Official Gazette no. 65/10) according last changes of Directive 2000/29/EC: Annexes I to V Speakers: Nadica Djerkovska, Ivica Angelovski, Kalina Altandjieva, PD MAFWE
	Coffee break
5	Pest risk assessment as a basis for regulation of harmful organisms in the EU Speaker: Vlasta Knapič
6	Discussion on risk assessment experience in North Macedonia – study case Moderator: Jacek Žandarski, phytosanitary expert
	Lunch break
7	EPPO standards for pest risk analysis and national PRA Speaker: Jacek Žandarski
8	Risk categorization and prioritization in plant health – general principles and application Speaker: Vlasta Knapič
9	Demonstration of CAPRA use in pest risk analysis Speaker: Jacek Žandarski
	Risk categorization – Work in groups
	Questions and answers

	Friday, 13 December 2019
1	Risk categorization at import controls  and trade facilitation Global standards and practices with risk categorization at import controls Speaker: Shane Sela – Phytosanitary Expert at WorldBank project at SAI
2	Category of quarantine pests and their Pest Status in North Macedonia export after the last changes of Directive 2000/29/EC: Annexes I to V Speaker: Kalina Altandjijeva, PD-MAFWE
3	Principles of Categorization of commodities according to their pest risk (ISPM 32) and implementation in the EU import rules EU Plant Health Directive 2000/29/EC Annex V.B; EU rules for reduced plant health checks New EU Plant Health Regime. Speakers: Vlasta Knapič and Jacek Žandarski
	Coffee break
4	Expert opinion on pest risk and mitigation measures in real case; An example of regulated insect pest with occurrence in MK; Dr. Stanislava Lazarevska, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Food
5	Expert opinion on pest risk and mitigation measures in real case; An example of regulated pathogen with occurrence in MK; Dr. Rade Rusevski, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Food
6	Expert opinion on pest risk and mitigation measures in real case; An example of non-regulated pest, important for export, which occurred in MK; Dr. Biljana Kuzmanovska, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Food
	Lunch break
	Work in groups – pest risk assessment using EPPO Rapid PRA scheme
	Presentation of WG results and discussion
	Closing