The European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO) is an

intergovernmental organisation An international organization or international organisation (see spelling differences), also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is a stable set of norms and rules meant to govern the behavior of states a ...

responsible for

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an cooperation in plant protection in the European and

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

region. Founded on April 18th, 1951 and based in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, France, EPPO is the Regional Plant Protection Organization (RPPO) for Europe under the

International Plant Protection Convention The International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) is a 1951 multilateral treaty overseen by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization that aims to secure coordinated, effective action to prevent and to control the introduction an ...

(IPPC). To meet its objectives to protect plants, strategize against the introduction and spread of dangerous pests, and to promote safe and effective control methods, EPPO develops

international standard international standard is a technical standard developed by one or more international standards organization, standards organizations. International standards are available for consideration and use worldwide. The most prominent such organization ...

s and recommendations, provides reporting services, participates in global discussions on plant health, EPPO hold regular expert

working group A working group, or working party, is a group of experts working together to achieve specified goals. The groups are domain-specific and focus on discussion or activity around a specific subject area. The term can sometimes refer to an interdis ...

s, and maintained EPPO codes.

History

Founded in 1951 and based in

, France, EPPO is the Regional Plant Protection Organization (RPPO) for Europe under the

(IPPC). The

responsible for

an cooperation in plant protection in the European and

region had grown to 52 member states . EPPO's objectives are to protect plants, to develop international strategies against the introduction and spread of dangerous pests, and to promote safe and effective control methods. EPPO has developed international standards and recommendations on phytosanitary measures, good plant protection practice, and on the assessment of plant protection products (

pesticide Pesticides are substances that are meant to control pests. This includes herbicide, insecticide, nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal repellent, microbicide, fungicide, and ...

s). It also provides a reporting service of events of phytosanitary concern such as outbreaks and new pest records. EPPO maintain datasheets on pests of regulatory concern. As a Regional Plant Protection Organization, EPPO also participates in global discussions on plant health organised by FAO and the IPPC Secretariat. EPPO holds expert

s to perform pest risk analyses on plant pests of concern to the EPPO region.

EPPO codes

EPPO is responsible for management of the EPPO code system, previously known as

Bayer Bayer AG (, commonly pronounced ; ) is a German multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company and one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Headquartered in Leverkusen, Bayer's areas of business include pharmaceutic ...

codes. The system is an

encoded In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication ...

identifier used by EPPO, in a system designed to uniquely identify

organism In biology, an organism () is any living system that functions as an individual entity. All organisms are composed of cells ( cell theory). Organisms are classified by taxonomy into groups such as multicellular animals, plants, and fu ...

s that are important to

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

and

crop protection Crop protection is the science and practice of managing plant diseases, weeds, and other pests (both vertebrate and invertebrate) that damage crops and forestry. Crops include field crops ( maize, wheat, rice, etc.), vegetable crops (potatoes, ...

EPPO member countries

:

( PPIS)

EPPO Bulletin

The
EPPO Bulletin
' is the official publication of EPPO. It features articles on all aspects of plant protection and is published on behalf of EPPO by

Wiley-Blackwell Wiley-Blackwell is an international scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons. It was formed by the merger of John Wiley & Sons Global Scientific, Technical, and Medical business with Blackwell Publish ...

. Articles are published in French or English with a Russian summary.

References

Brunel S, Suffert M, Petter F, Baker R (2013) Interface between pest risk science and policy: the EPPO perspective. NeoBiota 18: 9-23. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.18.4049 Brunel S, Petter F, Fernandez-Galiano E, Smith I (2009) Approach of the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization to the Evaluation and Management of Risks Presented by Invasive Alien Plants. In: Inderjit (eds) Management of Invasive Weeds. Invading Nature – Springer Series In Invasion Ecology, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9202-2_16 CABI/EPPO (1992/1997) Quarantine Pests for Europe (1st and 2nd edition). CABI, Wallingford (GB). EPPO (2020) Revision of the EPPO datasheets: From static documents to dynamic datasheets. EPPO Bulletin 50(3), 528-528. https://doi.org/10.1111/epp.12731 EPPO (2020) Annual Report and Council Recommendations 2019. EPPO Bulletin 50(3), 578-594. https://doi.org/10.1111/epp.12714 Giovani B, Blümel S, Lopian R, Teulon D, Bloem S, Galeano Martinez C, Beltran Montoya C, Urias Morales CR, Dharmapuri S, Timote V, Horn N (2020) Science diplomacy for plant health. Nature Plants 6(8), 902-905. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-020-0744-x Mathys (1977) Significance of the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization, its functions and their implementation. Pesticide Management and Insecticide Resistance 1977, Pages 477-488. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-738650-8.50038-2 Pautasso M, Petter F, Rortais A, Roy AS (2015) Emerging risks to plant health: a European perspective. CAB Reviews 2015 10, No. 021. doi: 10.1079/PAVSNNR201510021

External links

EPPO website

EPPO Global Database

EPPO Bulletin

EPPO Platform on Pest Risk Analysis

EPPO database on Diagnostic Expertise

EPPO-Q-bank
* * * * :: - for DNA reference sequences of quarantine pests {{Authority control Agricultural organizations based in France Agriculture in Europe Food and Agriculture Organization Environmental organizations based in France Organizations established in 1951 Pesticide organizations 1951 establishments in France Phytosanitary authorities