EPPO 75^th Anniversary

EPPO celebrates 75 years of regional cooperation in plant protection

On 18 April 2026, the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO) marks the 75th anniversary of the signing of the EPPO Convention by its first 15 member countries.

Since 1951, EPPO has worked to strengthen cooperation among its member countries to protect plant health, support safe trade, and promote sustainable plant protection across the European and Mediterranean region.

This anniversary is an opportunity to reflect on 75 years of collaboration, scientific exchange, and shared commitment to plant health. Visit the page summarizing a brief history of EPPO.

EPPO will celebrate this important milestone throughout 2026 with a series of activities and events.

Get involved – submit photos to the EPPO 75^th Anniversary Photo Contest!

To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO), participants are invited to submit photos illustrating the diversity, importance, and impact of plant protection across the EPPO region.

The contest is open to anyone involved in, or interested in, EPPO's work. Winning photos will be decided by an EPPO Panel based on relevance, visual quality and creativity. 12 winning photos will then be selected for inclusion in the EPPO 2027 Calendar.

Winners will receive a complimentary copy of the EPPO 2027 Calendar and a high-quality printed version of their winning photograph.

Submit your photos at https://photocontest.eppo.int/

EPPO Members through time (1951 – Present)

The membership of the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO) expanded steadily over time. In 1951, EPPO was began with a group of member countries from Europe and North Africa including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany (FRG), Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, as well as Algeria, Guernsey, Jersey. Over the following decades, additional countries from Europe, the Mediterranean, and parts of Asia joined, including Israel (1952), Sweden (1954), Norway and Tunisia (1955), the USSR (1957), and Poland and Turkiye (1958), Bulgaria and Romania (1959) Czechoslovakia, Finland and Hungary (1960), Cypurs (1962), Morocco (1962), German Democratic Republic and Malta (1975) and Iran (1979 before withdrawing in 1980). Membership continued to increase in the 1990s, with many countries, including newly independent states, joining during the 1990s, such as Latvia (1992), Czech Republic (1993), Slovakia (1993), and Albania, Croatia, Estonia, Slovenia and Ukraine (1994), Jordan (1997), Lithuania and former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (1998) and Algeria again in 1999. Further expansion in the 2000s and 2010s brought in countries from Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Caucasus, including Kyrgyzstan (2000), Belarus (2003), Kazakhstan and Serbia (2004), Uzbekistan (2005), Moldova (2006), Azerbaijan (2007), Bosnia and Herzegovina (2008), Georgia (2015), and Montenegro (2018).

What does EPPO mean to you?

Watch a short video, recorded at 20^th Session of the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM-20), highlighting what EPPO means to our partners and National Plant Protection Organizations (NPPOs).

We warmly thank all those who contributed to the video and shared their perspectives on EPPO’s work and cooperation.