Brussels, 11/09/2015 (Agence Europe) - Italy has failed to put in place fully the Community measures to combat the Xylella fastidiosa bacterium that is decimating olive trees in the south of the country, says the Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) in a report published on Wednesday 9 September.
The measures put in place hitherto by Italy to tackle the bacterium have clearly been insufficient to prevent the rapid spread of Xylella fastidiosa within the demarcated zone and “in the absence of concerted action, and full implementation of the necessary measures and effective engagement with stakeholders, the further rapid onward expansion of the disease is inevitable”. That is the stark assessment delivered by the FVO to the Italian authorities, following an audit carried out between 8 and 19 June 2015.
The FVO team evaluated Italy's implementation of European Commission decisions to restrict the spread of bacterium that has been devastating olive trees in the Apulia region of the country: monitoring, agricultural measures to suppress the vectors, movement restrictions for plants, the eradication of new outbreaks and infected plants and communication with producers and stakeholders.
It found that some of the measures had only been partially implemented or not implemented at all. A total of only 111 trees have been destroyed in Apulia since the outbreak in March 2013 and only 7 of the 37 newly infected trees have been eradicated since the start of March 2015, the FVO states.
“The existing programme of surveys is not effective to allow for the timely detection of new outbreaks or the accurate determination of the true extent of the spread of Xylella fastidiosa”, says the report. The FVO says that it found no evidence at the time of the audit of any critical technical, resource, or general legal constraints which would prevent the authorities from implementing these measures, especially since the declaration in February 2015 of a state of emergency in the Apulia region. (Lionel Changeur)