Guidelines on information requirements for import and release of invertebrate biological control agents in European countries.

Abstract

Several international documents have been published in recent years with the objective of providing guidance to industry, biocontrol practitioners and competent national regulatory authoritieson the regulatory framework for the import and release of invertebrate biological control agents(IBCAs). As the scope and the level of detail given in these documents were diverse in many respects, it has been difficult for all stakeholders to apply such guidelines, and to integrate them in a harmonized way into national regulatory documents. At the request of several stakeholders, the International Organization for Biological Control of Noxious Animals and Plants/West Palaearctic Regional Section (IOBC/WPRS) organized an initiative with the objective of merging all relevant international documents into one document, to provide more specific guidance, and to harmonizethe regulation of IBCAs in European countries and in other countries of the IOBC/WPRS. This document consists of five sections which together form comprehensive guidelines specifying the information required for regulating import and release of IBCAs.

Taxon-specific multiplex-PCR for quick, easy, and accurate identification of encyrtid and aphelinid parasitoid species attacking soft scale insects in California citrus groves

“…Accurate identification of insect parasitoids used (or being considered for use) in biological control programs is a fundamental step in assessing their suitability and performance (Bigler et al 2005;Greenstone 2006). The taxon-specific multiplex-PCRs developed in the present study provide means by which any life stage of the major members of the complex of parasitoids attacking soft scales in California citrus groves (Lampson and Morse 1992;Bernal et al 2001;Kapranas et al 2007) can be accurately and rapidly identified.…”

“…A critical step in assessing an organism's potential for biological control is the ability to accurately identify it (Bigler et al 2005). This can be problematic if definitive morphological characters are elusive or difficult to interpret.…”

Harmonia axyridis: an environmental risk assessment for Northwest Europe

“…The simple fact that regulation concerning import and release of exotic natural enemies does not exist in some countries and is not well organized in other countries has resulted in this problematic situation . As a result, the topic of implementation of a registration procedure for natural enemies is currently hotly debated by the biological control industry, scientists and regulators (Blum et al 2003;GreatRex 2003;van Lenteren et al 2003van Lenteren et al , 2006aAnonymous 2004;Bigler et al 2005.…”

“…Current activities in the field of regulation will hopefully result in a light and harmonized registration procedure that is not prohibitive for the biological control industry and will result in the pre-selection of safe natural enemies (see e.g. Bigler et al 2005). A proposed quick scan method for organisms already in use (van Lenteren and Loomans 2006) should be considered as a kick-start from a situation with no regulations for the use of biological control agents, to one where import and release are regulated to ensure safe use.…”

“…The kind of information needed to evaluate these issues are addressed in Anonymous (2004), van Lenteren et al (2003) and Bigler et al (2005), and information on the methods to be used to assess non-target effects are addressed in Babendreier et al (2005) and . In this paper we will concentrate on the third issue, but also shortly address the other issues.…”