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

More than 100 delegates gathered in Parma this week for a three-day conference on data collection in plant health organised jointly by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO).

Delegates were welcomed by Dr. Marta Hugas, EFSA’s Director of Risk Assessment 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. Data collection is a fundamental element of evidence-based risk assessment and decision-making in plant health, and often uncertainty 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 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.