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On 14 June 2017, the Chief plant health officers, the working party of the Council of the European Union that reports on overall issues and strategic aspects of EU policies in the area of plant health, agreed to launch a new and comprehensive awareness raising strategy for plant health in the European Union.

The European Union has recently faced various crises and emergencies due to outbreaks and findings of plant pests in its territory, as in the case of Xylella fastidiosa or pine wood nematode.

The new strategy consists of five suggested priority actions, to be carried out by both Member States and the Commission, and aims at helping national authorities to give appropriate information to all the involved parties in the prevention of and reaction to potentially devastating plant pests. The five suggested priority actions consist in:

• the development of awareness-raising strategies;
• the creation of a Commission working group of Member States experts;
• the creation of toolkit and awareness-raising materials;
• the engagement with target groups and training of communicators; and
• activities of monitoring and evaluation.

The awareness raising strategy for plant health in the EU will play a key role in the context of the International year of plant health, which should be held in 2020.

Further information are available at the following LINK.

Giovanna Bagnardi e Davide Scavuzzo