ABSTRACT
From the 1878 Phylloxera International Convention of Bern to the adoption in 1951 by the FAO Conference of the International Convention on Plant Protection (IPPC), a series of international conventions sought to relieve European agriculture from “foreign parasites. (p. 6)”3 The purpose of IPPC, revised in 1979 and 1997, is to secure at a global level a common and effective action against the introduction and spread of plant pests. This treaty also supplies a framework for phytosanitary measures to be taken against “invasive alien species,” as de¢ned by the Convention on Biological Diversity, as far as they are plant pests.4 The revival of the European ideals following the trauma caused by the two World Wars triggered, as far as plant protection is concerned, the formation of the European Plant Protection Organization (EPPO) in 1951. EPPO was given the task to ensure cooperation between national plant protection organizations (e.g., of¢cial plant protection, plant health, or plant quarantine services) and to harmonize for plant health. EPPO grew from 15 founding members to a current membership of 50 European and Mediterranean countries (including countries from North Africa, the Middle East, and former Soviet Union Republics of Central Asia). The ¢rst objective of EPPO is “to develop an international strategy against the introduction and spread of pests that damage cultivated and wild plants in natural and agricultural ecosystems” (EPPO website https://www.eppo.org). In particular, the organization has tried to identify the main risks for Europe and made recommendations to its member countries, as to which pests should be regulated as quarantine pests (EPPO A1 and A2 Lists) and which phytosanitary measures could be taken. Another European particularity was the development of the European Union (EU), an economic and political union of 27 member states. Since 1993, lists of quarantine pests and phytosanitary measures have been harmonized in the EU Council Directive 2000/29/EC (revising Council Directive 77/93/EC). Today, approximately 300 pests have been identi-¢ed as quarantine pests (largely on the basis of EPPO’s recommendations), and many of them are invasive plant pathogens. Accordingly, the issue of invasive plant diseases is still a main concern in Europe, requiring signi¢cant effort in both research and management.
