EFSA and EPPO hold joint workshop on data collection in plant health

Delegates were welcomed by Dr. Marta Hugas, EFSA’s Director of Risk Assessment A specialised field of applied science that involves reviewing scientific data and studies in order to evaluate risks associated with certain hazards. It involves four steps: hazard identification, hazard characterisation, exposure assessment and risk characterisation and Scientific Assistance, who said: “This is a very special workshop for EFSA, our first joint meeting with EPPO, which we hope will further enhance cooperation between our two organisations in this important area of risk assessment.

“The subject of this workshop is close to the hearts of EFSA – it is in our DNA A complex chain-like molecule that carries the genetic material, present in living organisms and some viruses. DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is capable of copying itself and carries the instructions for all the proteins used to create and sustain life. Data collection is a fundamental element of evidence-based risk assessment and decision-making in plant health, and often uncertainty Scientific concept used in risk assessment to describe all types of limitations in available knowledge at the time an assessment is conducted, with the agreed resources, that affect the probability of possible outcomes to the assessment in our risk assessments is due to a lack of data.”

Françoise Petter, Assistant Director of EPPO, said: “Data collection is one of the issues that we have in common with EFSA, and this workshop is a new form of collaboration and interaction between our two organisations as we work together to make data collection more efficient in the future.”

The workshop is being attended by risk assessors, risk managers, data specialists, researchers, stakeholders and academics from around the world.

Guest speakers are leading discussions on themes such as: advanced methods and strategies for surveillance and data collection; modelling tools to forecast pest A living organism (e.g. an insect, rodent, weed, fungus or virus) that is harmful to plants and/or their products (e.g. seeds, fruits) distributions, emergence and invasion patterns; data collection and information sharing for pest risk assessment; early warning tools in plant health; and databases and information exchange systems.

• Programme