EPPO Study on pest risks associated with the import of tomato fruit

Tomato fruit are currently imported from different parts of the world to the EPPO region, and tomato is an important crop throughout the EPPO region both as an outdoor and indoor crop. The risk that tomato fruit may act as a pathway of introduction of new pests was identified after the introduction of Tuta absoluta in the EPPO region in 2006. A study was launched in 2013, to produce a list of pests associated with the pathway of fruit of Solanum lycopersicum (tomato). The objectives, process and first outcomes of the study are presented here. One main outcome of the study is the recommendation of a general phytosanitary import requirement for a phytosanitary certificate for tomato fruit, thereby ensuring that tomato fruit are inspected at export.