11th Meeting of the Panel on Plant Protection Information
Athens, GR, 2025-11-04/05
Photo of Panel members
The 11th Meeting of the Panel on Plant Protection Information took place in Athens from the 4th – 5th November 2025 to discuss how to better communicate on plant health issues at national and international level and further improve EPPO information services The meeting was chaired by EPPO Scientific Officer Ms Suffert and attended by eight experts and one observer from eight EPPO member countries, EPPO Scientific Officer Mr Warner, one expert from an EPPO member countries joined for a remote presentation. The Panel also received remote presentations from EFSA and CABI who shared their insights.
In addition to the meeting, the Panel enjoyed an informative visit around the laboratories and facilities of the Benaki Phytopathological Institute. Warm thanks to Ms Markellou and her colleagues for excellent organization and coordination of the meeting.
National and international activities on communication
Panel members presented updates on their plant health communication activities. The presentations illustrated the diverse strategies to raise public awareness and engagement through a range of activities (e.g. games, podcasts, pest factsheets, conferences, leaflets, videos, training courses, events, social media campaigns and workshops). The communication material that was presented had been prepared for a wide range of audiences (e.g. children, travellers, the general public, gardeners, traders and professional operators. The success of many of these campaigns was demonstrated through media coverage and positive feedback from participants. Many of these campaigns have been added to the EPPO Platform on Communication Material.
The successes and the extension of the EU awareness raising campaign on plant health (Plant Health 4 Life) was presented by Ms Sánchez and Ms Zanetti (EFSA).
The Panel members were updated by Ms Charles (CABI) on the most recent developments achieved by CABI, such as updating datasheets, the success of CABI’s PlantwisePlus pest preparedness project to help smallholder farmers and strengthen national plant health systems, their ongoing use of Artificial Intelligence in horizon scanning and developing Pest Risk Monitoring (PRiM) reports and the creation of new courses for the CABI Academy.
Panel members received a tour of the facilities at the Benaki Phytopathological Institute
EPPO Information Services
The following developments and updates were presented and discussed within the Panel:
- EPPO Platform on Communication Material: the Platform continues to receive a wide range of contributions and visits from across the EPPO region. The Panel discussed the addition of new keywords for the search feature to encourage posting material dedicated to professionals and initiating work on a newsletter to highlight recently published material.
- Datasheet revision project: the revision of existing datasheets and creation of new datasheets carries on, with 10 new or revised datasheets per year.
- Update on the EPPO Global Database: the Panel were presented with the current work to maintain the Global Database (taxonomy, maps, host plants, photos), and to the new major work initiated to include the Pathway tool in the EPPO Global Database. This tool will help retrieve information on which commodities may be pathways for pest movement in trade.
Other information services were briefly discussed and useful feedback was provided by Panel members. Discussions will continue at the next meeting.
Panel members during the meeting
Developing EPPO guidance on inclusivity for communication material
The Panel discussed ways to improve accessibility of member government communication materials (i.e. ensuring information is easy to find, understand, and use by all audiences). It was agreed that the Panel would continue to work after the meeting to identify areas where accessibility requirements could be improved with the goal of sharing guidance at a later date.
Communication material for children and young people
Panel members presented examples of national communication campaigns that had been designed for children and young people. These examples will be highlighted on the Platform on Communication Material to demonstrate the range of creative campaigns that have been created.
Raising awareness of researchers on pest reporting
The Panel discussed ways to encourage researchers to report pest findings to NPPOs. They noted that some researchers are unaware of reporting duties and may face barriers to reporting. The Panel made suggestions for improving this through engagement at scientific conferences, potential communication with scientific societies and ways NPPOs could raise awareness of pest reporting obligations.
Discussion on the EPPO Strategic Framework 2026-2030
The Panel were presented with the new EPPO Strategic Framework 2026-2030, approved by the EPPO Council (2025-09). The Panel brainstormed on possible activities for inclusion in the implementation plan and yearly work programmes to ensure effective execution of this new framework.
The next Panel meeting is planned for April 2027, the location and date will be announced nearer the time.