The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published an event report on the 13th webinar in its series on EU priority pests, focusing on the pepper weevil Anthonomus eugenii. The webinar, held under the framework contract for technical and scientific support to EFSA's training courses on plant pest surveillance, provided an overview of the pest's characteristics and included a practical simulation using the RiPEST tool. The recording is available on EFSA's YouTube channel and the EU Academy.
The webinar is part of a round of 20 on EU priority pests, promoted by EFSA in collaboration with academic experts to improve plant health crisis preparedness. This is the tenth webinar in the series, with the report published on 20 July 2026. The event supports EFSA's ongoing work on pest categorisation and surveillance, building on earlier pest reports and categorisations for Anthonomus species, such as the pest report to support ranking of EU candidate priority pests and categorisations of Anthonomus grandis, Anthonomus bisignifer, and others.
The report details the main outcomes of the session, which aimed to enhance participants' ability to identify and survey for Anthonomus eugenii, a pest that poses a threat to solanaceous crops, particularly peppers. The use of RiPEST, a simulation tool, allowed for practical training in pest surveillance scenarios. The webinar contributes to EU efforts to strengthen plant health crisis preparedness by training national plant health authorities and stakeholders.
Stakeholders impacted include EU plant health authorities, who gain improved surveillance skills; pepper growers, who face potential economic losses from an outbreak; EFSA and its academic partners, who advance crisis preparedness; and the broader agricultural sector, which benefits from enhanced biosecurity. The trade-off involves resource allocation for training versus direct pest control measures, but the initiative is expected to improve early detection and response capabilities.