Pest Risk Assessment on Daktulosphaira vitifoliae for the EU Territory, a New Task for the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)

Following a request from the European Commission, the EFSA Panel on Plant Health (PLH Panel) has been asked to deliver a scientific opinion on the risks posed by Daktulosphaira vitifoliae for the European Union (EU) and to identify and evaluate risk management options for this pest. In particular, the PLH Panel was asked to provide an opinion on the effectiveness of the current EU requirements against this organism. The PLH Panel created a working group to respond to this request by the end of May 2014. The activity will be conducted in accordance with methodologies developed by the PLH Panel and follow International Plant Protection Convention standards. Since this mandate is the first received by the PLH Panel on an important pest of Vitis sp., the first step will be to identify information gaps and additional expertise which the group might need. A major task of the working group will be to try to determine whether there are aggressive strains of D. vitifoliae outside or inside the EU territory which might pose a risk to EU grapevines.