Pest categorization of Apium virus Y

Following a request from the EU Commission, the EFSA Panel on Plant Health conducted a pestcategorisation of Apium virus Y (ApVY) for the EU territory. The identity of the ApVY, a member of thegenus Potyvirus (family Potyviridae), is well established and reliable detection methods are available.The pathogen is not included in EU Commission Implementing Regulation 2019/2072. ApVY,considered endemic in Australia, was reported also in New Zealand and USA. In the EU, the virus wasidentified in Germany and Slovenia. No information on adoption of official control measures isavailable. In natural conditions, ApVY infects plant species of the family Apiaceae (i.e. celery, coriander,dill, parsley, bishop's weed) in which it generally induces leaf symptoms and/or stunting. In some hosts(i.e. parsley and poison hemlock), ApVY may be asymptomatic. The virus is transmitted in a nonpersistentmanner by the aphid Myzus persicae which is widespread in the EU. Although ApVYtransmission through seeds has been experimentally excluded for some hosts (i.e. poison hemlock andcelery), uncertainty exists for the other hosts because seed transmission is not uncommon forpotyvirids. Plants for planting, including seeds for sowing, were identified as potential pathways forentry of ApVY into the EU. Cultivated and wild hosts of ApVY are distributed across the EU. Economicimpact on the production of the cultivated hosts is expected if further entry and spread in the EUoccur. Phytosanitary measures are available to prevent further entry and spread of the virus. Currently,ApVY does not fulfil the criterion of being absent or present with restricted distribution and underofficial control to be regarded as a potential Union quarantine, unless official control is implemented.This conclusion is associated with high uncertainty regarding the current virus distribution in the EU.