Training on plant health controls for 2009 within BTSF comes to an end with a workshop on the EU's potato quarantine regime in Budapest on 12-15 October. Around 25 people are expected to attend. Most will be national authority staff of EU Member States and candidate countries involved in planning and policy making or senior field inspectors involved in control of potato quarantine pests.

The training should contribute to preventing the introduction of harmful organisms into the EU and to eradicating and preventing the spread of those already present. It is aimed at improving understanding and implementation of EU potato control directives in Member States.

The training will feature plenary sessions during which presentations will be given on EU requirements, survey planning, potato quarantine pests, inspection and sampling and measures to be taken during outbreaks. A panel discussion will also take place and participants will visit a potato store and watercourse to observe and discuss practical aspects of inspection and sampling.

This is the last in a series of nine workshops, of which two have covered the potato quarantine regime, three each have been held on controls on imports and internal controls and one has focused on pinewood nematodes, wood packaging material and forestry issues. By its' conclusion, around 230 participants from EU Member States and candidate countries will have benefited directly from the training.

Activities related to plant health controls will increase considerably from 2010, both in terms of the number and scope of the workshops. The new programme will run over two years and comprise two workshops each on the plant quarantine regime for potatoes, the internal plant quarantine regime and the plant quarantine regime for imports.

In addition, four workshops each are to be held on the plant quarantine regime for pinewood nematodes, internal controls required by EU emergency decisions related to non-forestry issues and similar controls for harmful organisms typical for forestry areas. The entire programme is expected to train approximately 540 participants.