47th Meeting of the Working Party on Plant Protection Products

Berlin, 2017-05-10/12

 

 

 

The 47th Meeting of the Working Party on Plant Protection Products took place in Berlin on 2017-05-10/12. Many thanks are due to Mr Heimbach and Mr Zwerger of the Julius Kühn Institut (JKI) for organizing the meeting and the warm hospitability (presentation of JKI  made by Mr Zwerger). There were 24 participants from 15 EPPO countries and as observers a member of ECPA and the coordinator and the technical expert of the European Union Minor Uses Coordination Facility. This EPPO Working Party directs and supervises the technical work of the EPPO Panels concerned with the efficacy evaluation and registration of plant protection products. The major points from the meeting are summarized below.

 

 

Participants
Pictures of the technical visit to the Botanical Garden of the Freie Universität in Berlin  

 

 

EPPO Standards for approval

The Working Party on Plant Protection Products approved nine new EPPO Specific Standards in series PP1 Efficacy Evaluation of Plant Protection Products and revised one of them. The Working Party also approved a new EPPO General Standard in the series PP1 and revised one of them. These Standards will be submitted to the Executive Committee and Council of EPPO in September 2017 for final approval and subsequent publication:

 

New Specific Standards

  • Thrips on citrus and stone fruit – NEW
  • Thrips on table grapes – NEW
  • Aphids on citrus – NEW
  • Aphids on fruiting vegetables of the Solanaceae and Cucurbitaceae families under protected and field conditions – NEW
  • Ceratitis capitata – bait application – NEW
  • Ceratitis capitata – foliar application – NEW
  • Eutypa lata on grapevine – NEW
  • Control of suckers in orchards – NEW
  • Weeds in soybean – NEW

 

Revised Specific Standard

  • Aphid vectors of Barley yellow dwarf virus (revision of PP 1/70)

 

New General Standard

  • Principles of efficacy evaluation for low-risk plant protection products – NEW

 

Revised General Standard

  • Principles of acceptable efficacy (revision of PP 1/214)

 

Minor uses

The Working Party considered extrapolation tables for minor uses which are being developed to accompany EPPO Standard PP 1/257 Efficacy and crop safety extrapolations for minor uses. The following new extrapolation tables  have been approved and will be posted on the EPPO website:

 

For Insecticides (Effectiveness):

  • Pests on chenopodiaceous vegetables – NEW
  • Pests on legume vegetables (Revision of table PP 1/257 IEET 49 Pests on peas and beans)
  • Heteroptera (Generic table) – NEW

 

For Fungicides (Effectiveness):

  • Diseases on legume vegetables – NEW

 

Mr Meeussen, coordinator of the European Union Minor Uses Coordination Facility (MUCF), updated participants on the recent activities of the Facility which became operational in September 2015 and is hosted by the EPPO Secretariat. More information on the MUCF can be found at www.minoruses.eu  and in the presentation made by Mr Meeussen .

 

EPPO Codes

The Working Party was informed that the agreed classification for Crop Groups for arable crops, fruit, vegetables and for the crop group ‘herbs, spices and medicinal plants’ is now integrated in the EPPO Global Database (GD) using Codes beginning with 3. Historical non-taxonomic Codes for crop groups are still visible in the system and are displayed under ‘Unclassified crop groups’ . Work by the EPPO Secretariat on how to display non-taxonomic Codes used for plant protection products in GD is still in progress (view the EPPO Secretariat presentation  ).
The Working Party agreed on new EPPO Codes to describe plant protection product uses which will be integrated in GD:

  • A set of Codes for ‘Crop Destinations’
  • A Code for ‘Amenity grassland’ (under ‘Crop groups’)
  • A Code for ‘Intercrop’ (under ‘Non-crop objects’)

 

Zonal efficacy evaluation

A new example of zonal efficacy evaluation to accompany EPPO Standard PP 1/278 Principles of zonal data production and evaluation has been approved by the Working Party and will be posted on the EPPO website:

  • Clarification of efficacy data requirements for the authorization of a plant growth regulator in oilseed and turnip rape in the European Northern Authorization Zone.

 

Programme of activity

The Working Party also discussed future activities and priorities which will be submitted to the EPPO Council in September 2017 for consideration. In addition to proposals for new Standards or revision of existing ones, future activities include the continuation of the development of the EPPO Codes to describe uses of plant protection products. The Working Party also explored options and possibilities for the implementation of two databases: one on resistance cases and another on extrapolation possibilities for minor uses.

 

The next Working Party on Plant Protection Products is due to convene in the Netherlands on 2018-05-23/25.