Technical report on the classification of plant pest detection and identification methods

This report presents a classification of methods for detecting and identifying plant pests useful in the preparation and reporting of surveillance activities. This classification aims to help EU Member States to plan and report pest detection activities, standardize the naming of these methods, and provide the basis for developing a system for evaluating their performance. First, an inventory of detection methods was developed, extracting data from EFSA Pest Survey Cards, categorising them, and identifying in EFSA Catalogue the term codes assigned to each method. The resulting inventory was simplified and generalised to include all possible pest detection methods. For classing the detection methods, four categories were distinguished: field methods, trapping methods, types of sampling and laboratory methods, each category with its own detailed classification in three hierarchical levels. These classifications will be used for designing surveys for plant pests and for supporting the evaluation of the performance of combined detection methods.