2454 final report.pdf - Agra CEAS Consulting

Evaluation of the Community Plant Health Regime: Final Report
DG SANCO Evaluation Framework Contract Lot 3 (Food Chain)
availability for training and, more importantly, the lack of communication and cooperation
among inspectors of different MS. In the view of the majority of MS CAs training at national
and EU level needs to be continued and strengthened.
Some EU-funded training in the field of plant health to EU NPPO services was provided in
2008 and 2009 within the BTSF (Better Training for Safer Food) program.
The respondents to the general survey revealed the overall degree of satisfaction with the
training provided under BTSF and pointed to the need to strengthen and continue this
training, as well as some potential areas for improvement:
The training needs more focus on practical inspection performance and systematic,
including sampling. In particular, training on inspections should be provided by FVO
or COPHs services (and the logistics aspect left to consultants);
It is remarked that the regulatory/official position of DG SANCO should be also
clarified during the training sessions;
Language is a barrier to the participation and the exchange of knowledge in the view
of several MS CAs and it is responsible for low participation of inspectors from some
countries. It is therefore suggested that the ‗training the trainers‘ approach of BTSF is
strengthened in this case, for example by follow up to ensure training dissemination;
Include diagnostics in the BTSF training programme.
One of the positive results of the training was indeed the fact of promoting exchange of
experience between inspectors of EU countries. However, for the regime to be efficient it is
strongly stressed from many parts that more cooperation and communication between
inspectors is needed. For example, some MS stressed the fact that inspectors are very
concerned that there is no official route for MS inspectorates to talk to each other.
Conclusions
The evaluation highlighted the reduced availability of training and significant variability
among MS in the level and quality of resources for training activities. Coupled with the lack
of communication and cooperation among inspectors of different MS, this concurs to the
limited harmonisation of inspection practices and the variability in the effectiveness of import
inspections among MS.
Some EU-funded training in the field of plant health to EU NPPO services was provided in
2008 and 2009 under the BTSF (Better Training for Safer Food) program. It is recommended
that this training is strengthened and continued, and that it is provided both for inspectors and
diagnosticians (section Error! Reference source not found.).
FCEC 177