|
|
| 30 mar 2015 |
18:23 |
|
EU experts endorse measures to prevent the spread of the Asian longhorn beetle
EU Member States' experts endorsed on Friday detailed emergency measures, proposed by the Commission, to prevent the further introduction and spread within the EU of the Asian longhorn beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis), a quarantine insect pest harmful to broad-leaved trees, including many important tree species in Europe.
|
|
Outbreaks and findings of the Asian longhorn beetle have so far been reported by six Member States (Austria, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom). The Commission has developed a detailed management strategy on the eradication and containment of this quarantine pest, including a requirement to raise public awareness about the Asian longhorn beetle.
Last year, the EU co-financed ten eradication campaigns in five Member States to the value of 1.12 million euro. The new EU measures will apply from the date of publication in the Official Journal in May 2015 and will provide Member States with harmonised EU legal guidance on the eradication measures to be taken in case of an outbreak. They include obligations to notify any outbreak, official annual surveys, demarcation of infested areas, monitoring, as well as removal and destruction of infested plants. The measures also provide conditions on the import and movement of particular plants, wood and wood packaging materials which host this insect.
Read more on plant health and biosecurity.
|
|
|
|
