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)
In terms of the level of public awareness and political support for plant health, it is noted that
this sector will always be in a less favourable position compared to the commitment made on
the management of animal health/food safety issues.
As the following graph demonstrates, in comparing plant health against other sectors exposed
to the invasion of harmful organisms and natural hazards, three patterns of invasion impact
drive resource allocation. In the animal health sector, even one isolated outbreak or single
finding of a harmful organism (with relatively limited economic impact at the time) might
suffice to trigger significant response to take measures against the outbreak. By contrast, in
the plant health sector, the response tends to be delayed until a larger proportion of the sector
is affected (the response is even more delayed in the case of environmental issues).
Key underlying factors for this difference in approach are: a) the close links of animal health
and food safety with human health and animal welfare; and, b) the general awareness of
substantial economic impacts that outbreaks in the animal health/food safety sector may
entail. As demonstrated in the case of FMD, BSE and Avian Flu, the costs of such outbreaks
can reach several billion € 261 , but costs and losses of similar magnitude are incurred in the
plant health field.
Raising public awareness on the significance of plant health for the EU plant resources and
economic viability of the sectors affected, beyond agriculture and forestry as such, remains
therefore a key challenge and opportunity for the future. Linked to this, an important objective
of future policies needs to be the advancement of PRA methodology to assess and
demonstrate the full potential economic impacts and benefits of different courses of action,
and in particular action focused on prevention and early response.
261 These costs are based on an economic analysis that takes into account all potential impacts, including direct
and indirect effects to the wider economy. A review of the potential costs of animal health outbreaks and the
benefits of prevention has been carried out for the OIE (The World Organisation for Animal Health): Prevention
and control of animal diseases worldwide Economic analysis – Prevention versus outbreak costs, Part I (Agra
CEAS Consulting, September 2007).
Food Chain Evaluation Consortium 293