The pest categorisation of non-EU viruses and viroids of Cydonia, Fragaria, Malus, Pyrus, Prunus, Rubus, Ribes and Vitis performed by EFSA

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has been requested by the European Commission (EC) to prepare a pest categorization of the large group of non-EU viruses and virus-like organisms infecting the genera Cydonia Mill., Fragaria L., Malus Mill., Prunus L., Pyrus L., Ribes L., Rubus L. and Vitis L. (fruit plants). A Framework Partnership Agreements has been signed between EFSA and the Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection-CNR (Italy) to jointly perform the pest categorization of this large group of pathogens. To this aim, a specific strategy has been developed including the following: a preliminary step, in which a list of viruses/viroids that must be categorized was generated; such a list includes viruses/viroids that infect the reported plant genera and that are not known to occur in the EU or known to occur only in restricted areas of the EU, and those associated with inconclusive information on their presence in the EU. After a consultation phase with EU Member States, the categorization of viruses of interest started. The pest categorization of these viruses will be presented in several EFSA scientific opinions addressing the non-EU viruses infecting the reported host genera. The state of the art and the most critical uncertainties in the pest categorization process will be briefly presented.