On Friday 11 October, the European Commission published a delegated act which will enter into force on 14 December 2019 in the Official Journal of the EU (L260), which will update the list of priority quarantine pests. This list includes 20 harmful organisms for which the potential economic, environmental or social impact on the EU's territory is the most severe, including Xylella fastidiosa, the olive killer bacteria, the Japanese beetle, the Asian long-horned beetle and Citrus Black Spot disease.
Member States will have to launch public awareness campaigns, carry out annual surveys, prepare contingency plans and action plans for the eradication of these harmful organisms.
The new methodology shows that if spread throughout the EU, Xylella fastidiosa could lead to annual production losses of €5.5 billion, affecting 70% of the production value of older olive trees (over 30 years old) in the EU and 35% of the production value of younger ones. A spread of Asian long-horned beetle could destroy more than 5% of the overall growing stock of several EU forestry tree species (such as alder, ash, beech, birch, willow, maple, plane trees). These trees are valued at €24 billion and the economic impact on the upstream forestry sector could amount to €50 billion. To see the list: https://bit.ly/2q5ChFr (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)