Regulated non-quarantine pests (RNQPs): methodology for preparing lists of RNQPs
The concept of ‘regulated non-quarantine pest’ (RNQP) was introduced in the revised text of the FAO International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) approved in 1997. In this context, a RNQP has been defined as a ‘non-quarantine pest whose presence in plants for planting affects the intended use of those plants with an economically unacceptable impact and which is therefore regulated within the territory of the importing contracting party’.
In line with available international standards, the concept of RNQP has been introduced in the new EU plant health regulation. In April 2016, EPPO undertook a 2-year EU funded project on RNQPs: the EU Quality Pest Project. The objective of this project was to develop a methodology and then to apply this methodology to a list of about 1400 pest–host combinations to identify which should be recommended as RNQPs.
A paper has recently been published in the EPPO Bulletin to present the methodology which has been used to prepare lists of RNQPs, and is freely accessible from the Internet:
Sources
Picard C, Ward M, Benko-Beloglavec A, Matthews-Berry S, Karadjova O, Pietsch M, Van Der Gaag DJ (2017) A methodology for preparing a list of recommended regulated non-quarantine pests (RNQPs). Bulletin OEPP/EPPO Bulletin 47(3), 551-558.