Two workshops under Better Training for Safer Food's plant health controls programme are to take place in Milan over the coming weeks. The first runs from 27 September-1 October, while the second is on 4-8 October. Both events focus on internal controls based on EU emergency decisions on harmful organisms typical for forestry areas. Around 30 people are to attend each course, mainly officials involved in policy making, planning and control activities and field inspectors from EU Member States, candidate and associated countries.
A number of emergency decisions have been adopted recently, laying down specific requirements for issuing plant passports, the aim of which is to prevent the introduction and spread of harmful organisms. Before issuing passports, Member States must conduct surveys, often in forested areas, to assess whether their territory is free of such organisms. Differences have been noted between Member State approaches to these surveys and subsequent eradication measures have often appeared ineffective.
The training thus aims to put across an unambiguous understanding of the relevant EU requirements so as to ensure that future surveys are planned and organised consistently and effectively. It will also focus on relevant harmful organisms regulated by EU legislation. A team of seven international experts from EU Member States and third countries will provide the training.
One day of field visits
One day of each workshop will be dedicated entirely to visits to public parks. Other activities include presentations, discussion, group exercises and demonstrations. Main subjects to be covered are characteristics of forested areas, assessment of the plant health status of forests, surveys including methodologies, practical aspects and registration of results, and management of harmful organisms.
These are the first two workshops covering emergency decisions related to forestry matters within this programme. A further two are planned to take place in Milan and Lisbon, both in September 2011.
A range of modules
The programme comprises five other modules. In addition to emergency decisions on non-forestry issues, these are the EU internal plant quarantine regime and the plant quarantine regimes for imports, potatoes and wood packaging material.
Four four-day sessions are planned for both modules on emergency decisions and that on wood packaging. Modules on the plant quarantine regimes for imports and potatoes each comprise two three-day workshops, while that on the internal plant quarantine regime includes two four-day events.
Plant health controls training within Better Training for Safer Food began in 2008 and initially covered the internal plant quarantine regime and the import, potato and wood packaging regimes. As of 2010 it has expanded to include emergency decisions. The current programme began in early September 2010 with a workshop in Lisbon on wood packaging material and is set to run until late-2011.
