The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published estimated survey parameters for the detection of Anoplophora glabripennis, a wood-boring beetle listed as an EU priority pest. The technical report, released on 15 June 2026, provides quantitative values for sampling effectiveness, design prevalence, and relative risk to support EU Member States in designing harmonised, statistically sound surveys for this pest.
The parameters were derived through expert knowledge elicitations conducted by EFSA since 2025, as part of an ongoing effort to fill data gaps for priority pests listed in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/1702. The values will be integrated into the EFSA Plant Pest Survey Toolkit, a digital tool that helps national plant protection authorities design risk-based detection surveys. The report was prepared by EFSA staff and external experts, including from the University of Thessaly, and was requested by the European Commission.
The document does not propose new regulatory measures but provides technical guidance to improve survey efficiency and comparability across Member States. For EU producers and forestry sectors, better detection tools could reduce the economic damage caused by Anoplophora glabripennis, which attacks hardwood trees such as maple, poplar, and willow. National authorities will benefit from standardised parameters that simplify survey planning, though implementing the recommended sampling designs may require additional resources. The report is part of a series covering other priority pests, including Thaumatotibia leucotreta and Dendrolimus sibiricus, reflecting EFSA's systematic approach to pest surveillance.
No further institutional follow-up is specified; the parameters are immediately available for use by Member States via the EFSA toolkit.
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