Commodity risk assessment of Acer plants from Ukraine

The European Commission requested the EFSA Panel on Plant Health to prepare and deliver risk assessments for commodities listed in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2019 as ’High-risk plants, plant products and other objects'. This Scientific Opinion covers plant health risks posed by Acer plants (A. griseum, A. platanoides, A. rubrum, A. saccharum, A. saccharinum, A. tataricum and A. tataricum subsp. ginnala, Acer × freemani) imported from Ukraine as dormant plants: (a) 1–4 years old bare root plants and (b) 1–2 years old plants in pots, taking into account the available scientific information, including the technical information provided by Ukraine. All pests associated with the commodity were evaluated against specific criteria for their relevance for this opinion. Two EU protected zone quarantine pests, i.e. Cryphonectria parasitica, and Entoleuca mammata and one EU-quarantine pest, i.e. Lopholeucaspis japonica fulfilled all relevant criteria and were selected for further evaluation. For the selected pests, the risk mitigation measures proposed in the technical dossier from Ukraine were evaluated taking into account the possible limiting factors. For the selected pests an expert judgement is given on the likelihood of pest freedom taking into consideration the distribution of the pest in Ukraine, risk mitigation measures acting on the pest and uncertainties associated with the assessment. The degree of pest freedom varies among the pests evaluated, with L. japonica being the pest most frequently expected on imported plants. The Expert Knowledge Elicitation (EKE) indicated with 95% certainty that between 9748 and 10,000 per 10,000 bare root 1–4 years old plants will be free from L. japonica.