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)
lead to loss of export markets. Consumers run the risk of introducing the HO when they buy
trees or shrubs that are host plants of the pest, and may therefore prefer buying other plants
that are not hosts of the pest.
Yield losses in orchards may generally be expected to lead to an increase in the price of fruit
and, thereby, to a reduction in consumer demand.
The total area of table apple, table pear, lemon and small citrus trees in the EU is estimated at
811,722 ha (Eurostat – 2007). As indicated by NL in their response to the specific cost
survey, 17,000 ha of deciduous trees (Acer spp.) are grown in nursery stocks.
In DE, the total potential loss for the most preferred host plant, Acer spp., including costs for
replanting was estimated to be about € 96 million for Berlin alone (Balder, 2003).
Some host trees also have some economic value: wood of Populus trees is used for making
wood pulp, wood chip, veneers and matches; wood of Salix trees is used for general timber,
energy coppice, and basket weaving in charcoal manufacture.
No specific estimates of damage or losses which could have been incurred are available. In
Canada, in 2004, it was estimated that the removal and replacement of one urban tree was
about € 619 213 .
Environmental benefits
Environmental benefits arise for the area under amenity trees and natural forests in both
northern and southern MS. As there are no effective methods available to control the pest
except by spraying insecticides against adult beetles during summer months, eradication of
the HO is done through destruction of visibly infested trees and of hosts around visibly
infested trees. This has a serious impact on biodiversity since the preferred host plant (broadleaved
species) could disappear to a significant extent in infested areas.
Europe has a considerable area dominated by broadleaved (hardwood) species, currently
estimated at about 18% of the total forest cover area, while a further 40% is covered by mixed
species (broad leaved and coniferous). EU 27 MS have an average forest cover of 36%,
amounting to over 160 million ha of forest 214 . The potential susceptible area (broadleaved
species) for the EU-27 could therefore reach 40-45 million ha (depending on exact area
covered by the susceptible species). The actual extent of the damage will depend on mortality
and destruction rates, for which there is limited information at present. On the basis of a
simple extrapolation from US estimated rates of impact (35%, see Error! Reference source not
ound.), some 14-16 million ha could be damaged.
At the level of individual MS, the potential damage is significant. For example, as indiacated
respectively by CZ and BE in their response to the specific cost survey, the total susceptible
213 Average exchange rate 2004 : 1 Canadian $=0,6185249€
214 Source: EU Roadmap 2010
FCEC 212