Good seed and plant practices - an example of a process approach to preventing Cmmfrom entering the tomato propagation chain

摘要

Good Seed and Plant Practices (GSPP) is a private scheme whose objective is to prevent the occurrence of Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis (Cmtri) in the tomato production chain. Severe outbreaks of Cmm led to the establishment of the GSPP Foundation by the French and Dutch seed and plant trade associations in 2009. The GSPP Standard and the trademark are owned by the Dutch-French foundation, GSPP. In the context of GSPP, participants share experiences, expertise and knowledge in order to develop and improve the Cmm outbreak prevention system. The general principles are laid down in the GSPP Standard. The requirements of this standard include the quality management system, a risk assessment of defined threats (water, people, propagationmaterial, materials/equipment) in production processes and its control measures and the technical requirements. Accredited companies that fulfil all the requirements ensure the availability of healthy seeds and plants. These companies are allowed to produce and to market seeds and plants under the GSPP trademark. GSPP participants are seed companies, seed producers, seed technology companies and plant raisers, that all operate in the business chain of producing tomato seeds and young plants. One of thetwo auditing organizations audits these companies periodically. Their independent verification confirms that GSPP participants are compliant with the GSPP Standard. As of February 2018,40 companies apply the GSPP Standard and 95 production sites have been accredited in 18 countries worldwide. As a joint responsibility of all partners in the business chain, GSPP is a successful approach to preventing Cmm from entering the tomato production. The paper describes this sophisticated pest risk management system, the requirements of the system and the way in which it is organized. The underlying principles and practices of GSPP-pest risk management, tracking and tracing and extensive global cooperation and exchange of information and expertise between companies could be more widely applicable, beyond their current scope, to other diseases or crops.