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2005/ATCWG/WKSP3/017

Agenda Item: Session IV

Biosecurity Preparedness

Submitted by: CAB International

/ Workshop on Building Biosecurity Planning and Surveillance Capacity forAPEC Member EconomiesKuala Lumpur, Malaysia15-20 August 2005

Group Discussion 4

What kind of information needed in host pest list?

Pest lists should contain:

Pest status:

- Not Present

- Present but limited

- Widely present

Host

Ecology

Biology

Economy

Environmental impact

Taxonomic status

Distribution

Control Measures

Diagnostic

Pathways

Damage / symptoms

Probability of entry

Scientific and common name

Related species

Economic Losses

Pest status (quarantine pest) /

Surveillance system

Legislation

Database / pest record (whether it is reliable?)

Man power

Funding

Collection:

The responsibility of NPPO

- Centralised

- Networking

Resources / Fund

Security / Legislation

Data sheet

Revise / Updating

Information gaps faced by the country:

- Potential losses

- Biology

- Life Cycle

- Control measure / management

- Diagnostic (accurate / rapid / practical)

- Surveillance system

- Detection techniques

- Facilities to support database management (accurate, reliable, easy access)

- Reporting of new pests

- Governance issues (collaboration with other agencies – pest information / records)

- Awareness about the importance of pest list / database in plant health

Approach to address the gaps:

- Networking

- Awareness of the importance of plant health

- More fund

- Donor Agencies (technical assistance)

-Priority areas in the region (common problems)

Biosecurity Preparedness: Collections, Host-Pest lists, Datasheets and Diagnostic Tools

1. Are available pest lists adequate to work with in the identification of exotic pest threats?

No list is exhaustive

Commodity Based

- for agricultural pests (priority)

For plantation species

- better than natural forest

List created in relation to correct issue (ac hoc)

- almost nothing for plant pest

- needs an emergency on trade issue

2. Are current lists supported by biological collections?

- good for priority commodities

- specimens not collected or poorly documented for others

- checklists common but pest status not addressed

- collection dispersed with poor interaction

- high variable

3. What are the gaps in capacity to identify and evaluate exotic pest threats?

Low Government priority

Low funding

- dwindling expertise

- diagnotic capacity

Many? entomologist and pathologist but few taxonomists

Definition of pest

- What is it?

- How to catagorise checklists?

Bionet

-concept is not effective so far (need to be revitalised)

-needs to use the retired expert better

Opportunity

- pest list surveys

- develop non specialist taxonomy tools

- pest clinic to collection -> pest list -> service

More opportunities

- reference collections

- re-habitation of collections

- networking collections

- list server

- bridge gap between policy and technical

- legislation

levies on industry

priority and funding