Commodity risk assessment of Corylus avellana and Corylus colurna plants from Serbia

The European Commission requested the EFSA Panel on Plant Health to prepare and deliver risk assessments for commodities listed in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2019 as ‘High risk plants, plant products and other objects’. This Scientific Opinion covers the plant health risks posed by the two following hazelnut commodities to be imported from Serbia. 1. Bare rooted plants: 1- to 3-year-old plants of Corylus avellana or C. avellana grafted on C. colurna, without leaves. 2. Plants in pots: 2-year-old plants of C. avellana, without leaves. The assessment was performed by taking into account the available scientific information, including the technical information provided by Serbia. The relevance of any pest for this Opinion was based on evidence following defined criteria. One EU quarantine pest, i.e. Flavescence dorée phytoplasma, fulfilled all relevant criteria and was selected for further evaluation. For this pathogen, the risk mitigation measures proposed in the Technical Dossier from Serbia were evaluated separately for bare rooted plants and for plants in pots, taking into account the possible limiting factors. For the selected pathogen, an expert judgement was given on the likelihood of pest freedom of plants for planting, for both commodities taken together, considering the risk mitigation measures, including uncertainties associated with the assessment. The Expert Knowledge Elicitation indicated, with 95% certainty, that between 9,837 and 10,000 bare rooted plants and plants in pots per 10,000 would be free of Flavescence dorée phytoplasma.