Crackdown to fight plant disease
Strict national measures have now taken effect to safeguard the UK from a range of plant health threats, in particular the devastating disease caused by Xylella fastidiosa.
The regulations include more stringent import requirements to protect UK plant health against threats to natural habitats and forestry and horticulture industries.
To address the Xylella threat, the new rules include a ban on the import of Coffea (coffee plants) and Polygala myrtifolia which are particularly susceptible to the disease.
Xylella fastidiosa, a bacterial pathogen, is not in the UK yet but has devastated the olive industry in Italy.
The John Innes Centre is leading a UK-wide consortium, BRIGIT, to generate the evidence and understanding needed to reduce the risk of Xylella being introduced.
We welcome these new regulations which will be a key step in keeping the UK free from Xylella. Through the BRIGIT programme we are investigating how Xylella may spread in the UK environment, by assessing how symptoms may develop in plants, the prevalence and movement of insect vectors and how the disease may move around the country via transport of plants.
We also organise public engagement events to distribute information about Xylella and risks associated with importing ornamental plants into the UK.
Professor Saskia Hogenhout
