Revision of the EPPO datasheets: a successful project

Abstract

Since the 1970s, EPPO has been producing datasheets to provide NPPOs of its member countries with short descriptions of the pests that are included in the EPPO A1 and A2 Lists of pests recommended for regulation as quarantine pests. Over time, the EPPO datasheets have been produced in the form of short papers published in the EPPO Bulletin, and in collaboration with CABI, in the two editions of the reference book ‘Quarantine Pests for Europe’. In 2020, a project co-financed by EPPO and the European Commission was initiated with the objectives to update the contents of the EPPO datasheets and to transform them into dynamic datasheets displayed in the EPPO Global Database (https://gd.eppo.int). EPPO datasheets follow a standardized format and some of their sections, i.e. pest identity, host, and geographical distribution are automatically generated from the database, thus greatly facilitating the update of this information which may change rapidly.

A list of 319 pests was agreed between EPPO and the European Commission, and a grant agreement was signed in March 2020 for a 4.5 year period, establishing the conditions of the collaboration and co-financing. For each of these 319 pests, experts from all over the world were appointed and were given the challenging task to produce new or revised datasheets within 2–3 months. The role of the EPPO Secretariat has been to select authors according to their knowledge about the pests concerned, ensure consistency between datasheets, and coordinate the whole project. Specific IT tools have been developed in-house to manage the development of hundreds of datasheets, with many different experts over a 4.5-year period. Bilateral teleconferences were also regularly organized between EPPO and the European Commission to monitor the progress of the project.

In September 2024, the EPPO Secretariat could proudly announced that the 319 datasheets were all published in the EPPO Global Database.

This project has mobilized more than 170 authors from 40 countries, as well as a large part of the EPPO Secretariat (scientific officers and administrative staff). Although demanding, this project has created useful synergies and contributed to enrich the contents of the EPPO Global Database. In most cases, authors have provided additional information (e.g. host plants, geographical records), as well as pictures of pests. Furthermore, this project has contributed to enlarge the EPPO network within the EPPO region and worldwide.

The EPPO Secretariat would like to thank the European Commission for this fruitful collaboration. All authors should be warmly thanked for their dedication to this project, without their enthusiastic participation this successful outcome would not have been possible.

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