The State Plant Protection Service is implementing a project funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (grant) entitled "Strengthening the phytosanitary system and laboratory capacity for the development of the fruit farming sector in Uzbekistan" with the aim of improving the phytosanitary system and laboratory capacity, in particular for the detection, sampling and laboratory detection of organisms of particular concern to plants.
As a result of the project, experts will provide proposals to address the growing challenges posed by the increase in imports of host plant seedlings of fire blight from high-risk countries by enhancing the skills of the staff of the Agency of Plant Protection and Quarantine of the Republic of Uzbekistan in full-cycle identification and laboratory detection of the organism. Fruit farms will benefit in the long term from effective control and timely eradication of the organism, ensuring the health of their fruit tree plantations and avoiding significant economic losses caused by the uncontrolled spread of the organism.
Project activities:
- Visit of an expert from Uzbekistan to Latvia: during the visit, the expert will get acquainted with the procedures for surveys, detection and destruction of host plants, as well as the regulatory framework and the compensation mechanism for farms as the basic principles of good functioning of the system. The expert will meet with specialists and experts from the National Phytosanitary Laboratory.
- Inspection and preparation of samples: Latvian experts will prepare written guidelines or evaluate and complement existing ones, taking stock of the current situation. If necessary, the experts will prepare a description of the fire blight, including biology and visual signs. This material will assist Uzbek inspectors in practice to conduct of surveys and take qualitative samples.
- Laboratory analysis of samples: experts from the National Phytosanitary Laboratory of VAAD will train experts from the Phytosanitary Laboratory of Uzbekistan to put into practice testing according to the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO) diagnostic protocol PM 7/20, which provides internationally recognised results.
- State aid mechanisms: the activity will provide an overview of Latvia's experience in administering compensation and the preconditions for receiving it, including an insight into the reassessment of the system through the Cabinet of Ministers' Regulation No 255 of 20 April 2021 "Procedure for granting compensation for the implementation of phytosanitary measures".
Duration of the project: 10 October 2022 – 30 November 2022.
The project budget is €11 664.93, which is a grant of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
