Tree Health and Plant Biosecurity

Plant disease and pest outbreaks in the UK can cause adverse environmental, social and economic impacts. The Government must develop its capability to predict, monitor, control and mitigate the impact of pests and pathogens on plants in the UK.

We endorse the recommendations of the Tree Health and Plant Biosecurity Expert Taskforce but we expect the Government to complete its delivery of all the recommendations in collaboration with stakeholders through the enhanced plant health programme, to be published in Spring 2014.

There is currently some lack of definition of the roles and responsibilities of plant health authorities in the UK. The newly appointed Chief Plant Health Officer should address this shortcoming as a key priority. Communication and collaboration between organisations within the UK, and between the UK and EU member states, must also be improved.

The current review of the EU plant health regime is the ideal opportunity for Defra to negotiate a new regime more consistent with the UK Government’s aims. However, the EU review may take several years, and in the interim the Government must consider strengthening the protection afforded to the UK by using existing legislative mechanisms.

One of Defra’s four key priority areas is safeguarding plant health, yet we received evidence that it has become increasingly difficult to source UK funds for research on tree health issues. Resource constraints have led to a short-term fire-fighting approach to deal with existing disease outbreaks. It is essential that ring-fenced funding is provided for long-term research and development work that focuses on preparation for future plant health threats.

We welcome the Government’s commitment to take action to address the declining number of experts in the field of plant health, but we expect Defra to provide us with a full list of immediate initiatives that are being taken, including clear timeframes for implementation and details of the funding that has been allocated. We recommend that funding is allocated to increase the number of university courses and research posts available in the field of plant health in order to secure new entrants and to maintain a suitable level of expertise. The UK needs a core of dedicated, well-motivated experts to provide evidence of emerging plant health threats and to be ready to manage them.