PM 3/98 (1) Inspection of growing media associated with consignments of plants for planting

Specific scope: This Standard describes the inspection and sampling of growing medium (including soil) associated with consignments of plants for planting to ensure the growing media is free from pests. The Standard does not cover inspection of plants for planting in the consignment. Growing media moved as a separate commodity or contaminating a commodity is also not considered in this Standard. The Standard includes relevant EPPO A1 and A2 pests1 recommended for regulation. This Standard provides guidance that may be relevant to inspections for export.

Specific approval: This Standard was first approved in 2024–09.

Many plants for planting are imported or traded within the EPPO region with growing media. ISPM 5 Glossary of phytosanitary terms (IPPC, 2019) defines growing medium as ‘Any material in which plant roots are growing or intended for that purpose’. Soil is included in this definition of growing media and consequently this Standard will refer to growing media without re-specifying that growing media includes soil. Plant pests such as bacteria, nematodes, molluscs, insects and fungi can all be associated with growing media. Growing media can provide a substrate for pests to survive and possibly reproduce on the host or in the soil. In addition, pests in soil have the potential to be introduced into a suitable habitat as the plants may be replanted, even in outdoor situations. As a result, growing media attached to plants is considered as a high-risk pathway for the introduction or spread of quarantine pests (ISPM 40 International movement of growing media in association with plants for planting, IPPC, 2017a). EPPO has long recognized the risk of movement of soil with plants for planting and in 2016 an EPPO Council declaration was published where the Council reiterated that the intercontinental movement of soil with plants for planting is a high risk for plant health (https://www.eppo.int/RESOURCES/position_papers/council_soil_movement).

Growing media acts to protect the root system and enables the plant to sustain vitality and survival while being moved. Some plants such as bonsai are mainly imported with growing media attached.

Many countries in the EPPO region have restrictions on the import of growing media attached to plants. The pest risk of growing media depends on a number of different factors such as the type of media, its origin, production mode, treatment, storage, and the way the plants for planting have been produced (ISPM 40: IPPC, 2017a). Soil attached to plants is mostly prohibited from import into the EPPO region and only certain types of growing media are allowed for import and these must have been stored and/or treated to ensure freedom from pests.

Inspection and testing is performed to verify that growing media attached to or associated with plants for planting does not represent a risk.

ISPM 5 Glossary of phytosanitary terms (IPPC, 2019) defines inspection as Official visual examination of plants, plant products or other regulated articles to determine if pests are present or to verify conformity with phytosanitary requirements.

The procedures described in this Standard mainly concern the inspection of consignments at a point of entry in an EPPO importing country, but they may also be applicable for export inspection to check compliance with the phytosanitary requirements of the importing country.

The phytosanitary certificate that is accompanying a consignment should be examined before initiating the visual examination. It can provide useful information such as the country of origin, place of production and compliance with phytosanitary measures (e.g. level of processing, treatment of the growing media).

Inspections at import (including checking documents and identity checks) aim to verify compliance with phytosanitary import requirements such as the absence of regulated pests. Inspections may also be carried out for the detection of pests for which the phytosanitary risk has not yet been determined. When an unfamiliar pest is detected, the procedures specified in EPPO Standard PM 5/2: Pest risk analysis on detection of a pest in an imported consignment (EPPO, 2002), should be followed to allow the NPPO to decide the phytosanitary action to take.

Inspection of growing media attached or associated with plants in the importing country can be carried out at the approved point of entry or places of destination, depending on the inspection premises, the possibilities of carrying out efficient inspections and keeping the plants under official control until the result of the inspection is known.

Other factors may be taken into account when planning a risk based inspection.

Visual examination alone is inadequate to detect all regulated pests. If pests cannot be detected visually, inspection methods should be based on a combination of visual examination, sampling and laboratory testing.

The inspection method should focus on testing a representative sample of growing media for pests.

The general background for carrying out import inspections is included in ISPM 20 Guidelines for a phytosanitary import regulatory system (IPPC, 2017b) and ISPM 23 Guidelines for inspection (IPPC, 2016a).

General background information on inspection of consignments is given in the EPPO Standard PM 3/72 (2) Elements common to inspection of places of production, area-wide surveillance, inspection of consignments and lot identification (EPPO, 2009).

Specific information regarding the movement of growing media in association with plants for planting can be found in ISPM 40 (IPPC, 2017a).

Plants for planting imported with growing media are usually traded in large lots and transported by sea or land in palletized boxes, containers, or (in often smaller lots) by air freight. These plants are either intended for direct sale (in garden centres or other outlets) or the plants will be further grown on in nurseries and sold at a later date.

Examples of commodities of plants for planting associated with growing media covered by this Standard are: plants for planting (including plants with roots, corms, bulbs, tubers and rhizomes) in pots or where the roots are contained in another substance, such as root balls of large shrubs or trees wrapped in a hessian fabric (e.g. burlap).

Plants for planting may have been grown outdoors in natural soil and potted with other growing media before export. These plants may have natural soil attached to their roots and present a high risk for the introduction of pests. Alternatively, plants may have been grown permanently in growing media which presents a lower risk depending on production conditions of the plants.

This Standard covers mainly pests that are found in growing media and are listed in the EPPO A1 and A2 Lists of pests recommended for regulation as quarantine pests (see Tables 1 and 2). The phytosanitary procedures described in the Standard are primarily aimed at preventing the introduction of these pests into the EPPO region via growing media associated with plants for planting.

Details of the pests concerned (biology, geographical distribution, and host plants) can be found in the EPPO Global Database (EPPO, 2023a), in EPPO Standards regarding the specific pests, in EFSA Plant Pest Survey Cards and in the relevant scientific literature. Inspectors can consult the EPPO Global Database for pests specific to the hosts detailed in Tables 1 and 2. It should be noted that pests may be present in growing media associated with species other than known hosts.

The EPPO Lists of A1 and A2 pests are subject to additions and deletions. The present list may need to be revised when new quarantine pests are identified and added to the lists.

The pests detailed in Tables 1 and 2 are not exhaustive and other pests may be present within growing media which are EPPO A1 or A2 pests, or pests which are regulated by specific EPPO countries.

General background information on lot identification is given in the EPPO Standard PM 3/72(2) Elements common to inspection of places of production, area-wide surveillance, inspection of consignments and lot identification.

According to ISPM 5, a lot is “a number of units of a single commodity, identifiable by its homogeneity of composition, origin etc., forming part of a consignment” (IPPC, 2024).

A consignment may be composed of one or more lots of plants for planting with growing media.

Lots identified on the phytosanitary certificate should be the starting point for planning the inspection. Inspection of associated growing media may not be based on individual lots of the commodity but on combined lots which are homogenous firstly in origin and secondly in type of growing media.

The number of individual plants with associated growing media that should be selected for inspection to detect a specified level of infestation in a specified lot size is indicated in tables 1, 3 and 4 of ISPM no. 31 Methodologies for sampling of consignments (IPPC, 2016b).2

The NPPO should determine the sample size. For example, if 448 potted plants with growing media are inspected from a lot of 10 000 plants, this would provide a 99% confidence of detecting symptoms present in 1% of the plants, provided the symptoms are visible and are uniformly distributed and the plants are randomly selected. To reach the same level of confidence for small lots (fewer than 1000 plants), all plants should be inspected.

Inspectors should take all necessary precautions during inspection and sampling, such as wearing protective clothes: coat, overshoes, gloves etc. to avoid pest spread. Good hygiene procedures when collecting samples should be followed by decontaminating tools and hands.

Inspection should be combined where appropriate with sampling followed by laboratory testing.