A report from the EU Food and Veterinary office (FVO), published on Wednesday 31 May, says that significant progress has been made by Italy since August 2016 in implementing Decision 2015/789/EU on measures to prevent the introduction into and the spread within the EU of the Xylella fastidiosa bacterium that infects and kills olive trees (see EUROPE 11709).
“However, additional efforts are still needed to prevent the further spread of the disease. There is a risk that the current positive approach will not be sustained in 2017”, say the EU inspectors.
They are critical that there is no confirmed financial framework to continue surveys in 2017 and onwards. Following a ruling by the Court of Justice of the EU, the state prosecutor in Lecce lifted the ban on eradication and containment measures for contaminated olive trees (see EUROPE 11569).
The FVO highlighted that the measures implemented within the 20kn zone (maximum distance of 20km from the border of the infected zone with the rest of the Union territory) were not carried out according to the provisions in Decision 2015/789. “The excessive delays in the removal of the infected trees provided good opportunities for the spread of the pathogen from those locations during the flight period of the vector in 2016, and will continue to do so if action is not taken to remove these trees prior to re-emergence of the vector in spring 2017”, the FVO report states. The FVO inspection in Italy was carried out at the end of November 2016. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)