On November 30 and December 01, 2017 a high level meeting to discuss the issue of Xylella fastidiosa has been held in Paris. The meeting was organized by the French Ministry of Agriculture and the Directorate General for Health and Food Safety of the European Commission.
The meeting was attended by the EU Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis and the Ministers of Agriculture from the ten European Member States most concerned by the bacterium (Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Greece, Croatia, Cyprus, Malta, Portugal and Slovenia).
The participants agreed on a roadmap to strengthen the measures already implemented, including:
- improving knowledge through the support of research programs.
- strengthening surveillance to ensure the early detection and rapid eradication of potential new outbreaks.
- reinforcing awareness and information actions.
(One of the first actions already planned is the launch in early 2018 of a vast information campaign aimed at the general public and especially targeted to travelers).
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) provided the conclusions of the European research conference on Xylella fastidiosa held in Palma de Mallorca on 13-15 November 2017 (click here for the Ppt presentations and the book of abstracts). The report of the meeting by EFSA is available here.
Eppo (European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization) and Inra (French National Institute for Agricultural Research) – partners of XF-ACTORS consortium – participated to the meeting providing contents on the current knowledge about ecosystem interaction and regulations, and the available diagnostic protocol.
More information is available online:
- The press release (in French language) has been published on the website of the French Minister of Agriculture.
- The key points discussed have been reported by the European Commission and are available (in form of key conclusions and detailed conclusions) on the website of DG SANTE, along with the latest developments of Xylella fastidiosa in the EU territory.
- The opening speech of the Commissioner Andriukaitis is available here: http://bit.ly/2zF1TbU
- The agenda of the meeting is available here: http://bit.ly/2i75h8C
- More info at this article by Reuters: “Italy needs to do more against olive tree disease – EU health chief”
- Update (11/01/18): Conclusions from the Ministerial Conference on Xylella fastidiosa (Paris, 1December 2017) – Information from the French delegation and the Commission to the Agrifish Council of the Euorpean Union
To know more about the EU action against Xylella fastidiosa: www.europa.eu/!PR74Dv
Picture is courtesy of the official Twitter account of the French Ministry of Agriculture.