Xylella: EFSA participates in ministerial conference

EFSA took part in a high-level ministerial conference on Xylella fastidiosa on 1 December 2017. The meeting in Paris was organised jointly by the EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Vytenis Andriukaitis, and the French Minister for Agriculture and Food, Stéphane Travert.

EU ministers, risk managers and plant health experts met to assess the current situation in Europe regarding Xylella and to reinforce co-operation between Member States to combat the disease.

EFSA presented an outline of the discussions from a scientific meeting it organised on Xylella in Palma de Mallorca on 13-15 November 2017.

Conclusions from the ministerial conference recommend that EFSA updates its 2015 scientific opinion Opinions include risk assessments on general scientific issues, evaluations of an application for the authorisation of a product, substance or claim, or an evaluation of a risk assessment. on Xylella to account for recent scientific developments. It was also proposed that European Commission Working Groups be established to share best practice among experts and to enhance stakeholder awareness of measures to tackle the disease.

The full conclusions are available on the website of the European Commission.