Assignments and publications at SLU Risk assessment of plant pests

Last changed: 05 February 2024
Aerial picture of a coniferous forest, photo.

Here you can find examples of assignments and publications that SLU Risk assessment of plant pests are working with.

Risk assessments

Risk assessments are frequently conducted as so-called Pest Risk Analyses (PRAs). A PRA can be described as a scientifically based formalized process of evaluating all information influencing the risk that a pest constitutes to a specific area. PRAs are for example used as a basis for deciding whether a plant pest should be regulated and to justify protective measures that affect trade. International standards with guidelines for how a PRA should be performed can be found in so-called ‘International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures’ (e.g. ISPM 2 and ISPM 11) and methods are developed in standards by e.g. European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO). A PRA can, for example, be initiated if a new species of plant pest, which could potentially meet the requirements for being regulated as a quarantine pest, is found during inspections, surveys or identified through external monitoring.

International risk assessments

EFSA publications where the unit's staff are co-authors

EPPO PRAs to which the unit's staff has contributed

Reports following outbreaks of quarantine pests

New pathotypes of the fungus Synchytrium endobioticum that causes potato wart disease were discovered in Sweden in 2017. In the same year, the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne chitwoodi was found and the following year the closely related species Meloidogyne fallax was detected. Following these outbreaks, SLU Risk Assessment of Plant Pests was requested to review the available scientific information relevant for the Swedish Board of Agriculture's decisions on management and control measures.

Read the reports here:

Assessments in relation to risk management options

SLU Risk assessment of plant pests conduct assessments in relation to risk management options upon request from the Swedish Board of Agriculture.

Some examples

Other publications