European Food Safety Authority announces two public consultations for pest risk assessment

EFSA s Panel on Plant Health has launched an open consultation on its scientific opinion on the risk to plant health of Xanthomonas citri pv. citri and Xanthomonas citri pv.aurantifolii for the EU territory. The scientific opinion contains a pest risk assessment of Xanthomonas citri pv. citri and Xanthomonas citri pv.aurantifolii, the identification of risk reduction options and an evaluation of their effectiveness, and an evaluation of the effectiveness of current EU requirements, listed in Council Directive 2000/29/EC for reducing the risk of introduction of this harmful organism into the EU. In line with EFSA s policy on openness and transparency and in order for EFSA to receive comments from the scientific communities and stakeholders, EFSA has made the consultation available to the public at [http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/consultations/call/130731.htm]. Interested parties are invited to submit written comments by 12 September 2013. Please use the electronic template provided with the document to submit comments and refer to the line and page numbers. EFSA will assess all comments from interested parties which are submitted in line with the criteria above. The comments will be further considered by the relevant EFSA working group and taken into consideration if found to be relevant. Please note that comments submitted by e-mail or by post cannot be taken into account and that a submission will not be considered if it is submitted after the deadline set out in the call, presented in any form other than what is provided for in the instructions and template, not related to the contents of the document, contains complaints against institutions, personal accusations, irrelevant or offensive statements or material, or related to policy or risk management aspects out of the scope of EFSA''s activity.