What is the Japanese beetle is found somewhere… how can a crisis be averted? On Friday 19 June, this fictional scenario was practiced with entrepreneurs, representatives of industry organisations and governmental authorities. 

Every year, a meeting on quarantine organisms is held in one of the big tree nursery municipalities, with the aim of increasing or maintaining awareness of quarantine organisms and the impact of a detection or outbreak. After all, the risk of introducing harmful organisms into the Netherlands and the European Union always exists.

Last Friday, the national crisis exercise on quarantine organisms (Landelijke Crisisoefening Q-organismen) took place in Alphen aan den Rijn. The event was organised by Greenport Boskoop, with the support of the municipality, LTO Nederland, Naktuinbouw, Royal Anthos, and Penco. 

Fictional scenario
For this exercise, a fictional scenario was developed, including a notification received from another EU member state reporting that a Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica) has been found in an exported consignment of plants. Under EU regulations, a demarcated area must then be established, in which the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA, Nederlandse Voedsel- en Warenautoriteit) is required to take measures, including the destruction of infected plants and a ban on moving plants with soil attached to them. 

In small groups, participants further elaborated on this fictional scenario, with each group seeing it from a specific perspective: an affected grower, a trader in relevant host plants, a private individual living within the demarcated area, a municipal crisis management officer or communication professionals.

The findings were subsequently discussed with all participants. In the event of a detection or outbreak, it is important to assess the impact, ensure rapid environmental investigations and guarantee plant traceability. In addition to explaining which measures are mandatory and what is not allowed, it is equally important for those involved to know what is still possible. An outbreak can have far-reaching consequences for a region and/or an industry.

Cooperation between government authorities, the industry and trade organisations is crucial to the management of quarantine organisms. Only by acting together and swiftly, further spread can be prevented.

Leaflet ‘Keep the Netherlands free from the Japanese beetle’
What is the Japanese beetle? Which (EU) measures when such a beetle is detected? And what can you do to help keep this pest out of the Netherlands? All this information can be found in a leaflet compiled by the ornamental horticulture sector organisations (Dutch), in cooperation with the NVWA and Naktuinbouw.

Text: Arno Engels