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)
end of preceding year. FVO also responds to emergency situations with unscheduled visits,
although this does not happen very often.
Apart from inspections, FVO activities in the field of PH also include:
EUROPHYT notifications on import interception;
Notification of results of annual mandatory surveillance programmes (emergency and
control measures. MS have the obligation to notify as discussed in section 3.3 on
surveillance) and the FVO compiles related tables on annual basis. This is a task
traditionally carried out by FVO, although it is not an element of FVO‘s mission.
In terms of the resources available at the FVO for executing its tasks in the field of plant
health, these amount to 7 inspectors (including the manager, working part time inspecting and
part time in management). Staff are mostly involved in inspections 197 , whereas for the surveys
the resources needed are less than 0.5 person per year; one full time consultant works on
EUROPHYT. Since 1998 there has been no change in the structure of FVO for plant health
issues, and staffing has not increased, notwithstanding the increased inspections in the NMS
prior to accession. The increase in the number of pests in recent years has highlighted the
need for increased staffing; there are concerns from FVO on the possibility in the future to
satisfy this need, due to lack of qualified staff and location of the FVO offices. It is noted that
the scale of the resources devoted to plant health is limited when compared to the animal
health sector.
Overall, in the view of MS CAs (response to the general survey and MS field visits) the role
and functions of the FVO are considered highly useful and important for monitoring and
contributing to harmonising the implementation of CPHR, mainly by providing feedback to
the legislators (SCPH). The work of the FVO has also contributed to improved compliance
with EU import requirements from TCs; this is also evidenced by the decrease in the number
of interceptions in the year following the inspection of the FVO in a TC, as shown in section
3.4.
7.4. To what extent do FVO plant health inspections contribute to the harmonised implementation of
Community provisions by MS and improved compliance of import requirements by third countries?
a) Harmonised implementation by Member States
In the view of MS CAs, FVO inspections contribute to harmonised implementation by MS:
- fully (12 out of 25)
- partly (12 out of 25).
Stakeholders in the majority (12 out of 24) do not know, 11 believe they partly do.
b) Improved compliance by Third Countries:
In the view of MS CAs, FVO inspections contribute to improved compliance by TCs:
- fully (13 out of 25)
- partly (11 out of 25).
11 (out of 24, 10 do not know) stakeholders believe they partly,do.
197
The nominal capacity for PH is 20 inspections per year; however in practice missions are often complex and
require more resources. The length of mission depends on the country and on the topic – minimum 1 week is
required. Including GMOs programme for 2010, it includes 25 missions planned over 39 weeks – i.e. average 1.5
weeks per mission. In 2010: 18 missions will be carried out, the same was done in 2009.
FCEC 184