`Resolution Calls for Stronger Action to Prevent Spread of Xf - Olive Oil Times

Resolution Calls for Stronger Action to Prevent Spread of Xf

By Isabel Putinja
May. 28, 2015 09:42 UTC

Following the European Commission’s intro­duc­tion of rein­forced mea­sures in April to pre­vent the spread of Xylella fas­tidiosa which include the destruc­tion of mil­lions of infected trees in Italy’s Apulia region, the European Parliament has called for stronger action.
See Also:Complete Coverage of the Xylella Fastidiosa Outbreak
In a res­o­lu­tion on the Outbreak of Xylella fas­tidiosa affect­ing olive trees” adopted on May 20, 2015, the mem­bers of the European Parliament wel­come the mea­sures taken by the European Commission impos­ing restric­tions on the import of cer­tain plants into the EU to pre­vent the spread of the bac­te­ria, but call for stronger action, notably by tak­ing steps to avoid con­t­a­m­i­na­tion within the EU.

The res­o­lu­tion also urges the European Commission to com­pen­sate olive pro­duc­ers for the loss of rev­enue as a result of the erad­i­ca­tion mea­sures intro­duced and the intro­duc­tion of incen­tives for pro­duc­ers imple­ment­ing pre­ven­tive mea­sures. Furthermore, the European Commission is asked to improve sci­en­tific knowl­edge of the deadly Xylella fas­tidiosa bac­terium by set­ting up research insti­tutes.

Other pro­posed mea­sures include infor­ma­tion cam­paigns in areas of risk, an increase in the num­ber of inspec­tions, and warn­ing trav­el­ers about the risk of tak­ing infected plants into the EU.

In a press release by the European People’s Party (EPP), the group made up of elected mem­bers of the European Parliament belong­ing to Christian Democrat par­ties, Italian MEP (Member of European Parliament) Giovanni La Via, stated: Thanks to the EPP Group, we have a basis to com­pen­sate pro­duc­ers for the erad­i­ca­tion mea­sures and loss of rev­enues, but also to pro­mote inten­si­fied research efforts with­out delay and increase con­trols in order to detect harm­ful organ­isms at points of entry into the EU.”

Meanwhile, María Esther Herranz García, the Spanish MEP respon­si­ble for the res­o­lu­tion, pointed to the need for more research: It is cru­cial to under­take sci­en­tific research on Xylella to find more effi­cient means to fight against it and reduce the eco­nomic impact for pro­duc­ers,” she said.



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