EPPO Pest Risk Analysis (PRA) training Workshop: Training in essential elements of pest prioritization and PRA
Belgrade, Serbia 2026-11-02/04
An EPPO training Workshop on essential elements for Pest Risk Analysis (PRA) will be held in Belgrade. The workshop will start on Monday 2 nd November at 09:00 and will finish on Wednesday 4 th November at 16:00. The Workshop will follow an online webinar on pest prioritization for PRA which will be held on Thursday 3rd September 2026 (09:00 – 15:00).
Aim of the Workshop
The aim of the Workshop will be to provide participants with training on essential elements for PRA, including the preliminary prioritization process. The training will be relevant to both plant pests and invasive alien plants. This will be an important opportunity for participants to gain valuable experience in carrying out PRA using the EPPO Decision-Support Scheme for an Express Pest Risk Analysis (EPPO Standard PM 5/5), while at the same time networking with colleagues and working as part of a team.
Purpose
Amongst others, the workshop will provide participants experience in:
1) An understanding of how to prioritize a list of pests for PRA,
2) The EPPO Express PRA Scheme PM 5/5 to assess the risk of a plant pest,
3) Learning methodologies for collecting and interpretating information,
4) How to assess pathways of introduction,
5) How to assess establishment and spread potential,
6) How to predict economic impact,
7) Working as part of a team to assess the risk of a pest to an endangered area,
8) How to evaluate risk management options,
9) Presenting and defending your conclusions.
Participants
Participation is welcome from across the EPPO region, and in particular we welcome participation from staff of NPPOs from south-eastern European countries who work on or intend to work on PRA. There will be a maximum of 48 places and if necessary, the Secretariat will allocate these places to ensure a good mix of expertise and coverage of the region.
Format
The one-day prioritization webinar and three-day Workshop will combine lectures, group exercises and group discussions on essential elements for prioritization and PRA. During the workshop, participants will be divided into small groups where each group will work on one pest which was prioritized during the webinar.
Participants must be available to attend both the online webinar and the 3-day workshop.
The language of the workshop will be English.
Venue
Royal Inn Hotel, Belgrade, Serbia www.royalinn.rs
Pre-registration
Please indicate your interest in attending this workshop by 31st March 2026 using the following link: http://meeting.eppo.int/index.php/K9214
In the pre-registration form you will be asked to give a brief description of your current role and expertise in PRA. We will let you know by 13th April if you have been allocated a place and will invite you to complete the full registration by 4th May and book your accommodation.
Full registration
During the full registration, participants will be asked to identify pests from the EPPO Alert List and/or other pests of interest for their country, sub-region or the EPPO region. At the webinar, these pests will be prioritised, and priority pests will be selected for PRA during the workshop.
Registration fees
A registration fee of 126 EUR is required to confirm your place at the workshop and will include coffee breaks, lunch, and all other meeting facilities. The registration fee can be paid online by credit card, although the possibility to pay by bank transfer still exists. Explanations of the payment procedure, receipts etc. are given in the online meeting registration system.
The payment should be made by 2026-05-04.
Accomodation
Rooms will be pre-booked at the workshop venue Royal Inn Hotel. When participants complete the full registration they will be provided details on how to confirm the accommodation. Rooms are 95 EUR for a single room and 100 EUR per night for a double room.
Organising Committee
The Organising Committee responsible for setting the programme and contents of the training workshop includes Dragana Marisavljevic (Institute for Plant Protection and Environment, Serbia), Milka Glavendekic (University of Belgrade-Faculty of Forestry, Serbia), Giuseppe Brundu (University of Sassari, Department of Agriculture, Italy), Claire Gent (Defra, United Kingdom), Nuria Garcia Avendano (Spain).