Plant health risk assessment seeks to identify and assess the risks posed by pests to plant production in Finland. The assessments are carried out in compliance with the International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures No. 2 and No. 11 of the International Plant Protection Convention (International Plant Protection Convention IPPC).
Plant health risk assessment includes the evaluation of the probability of the entry, establishment and spread of pests and the assessment of their potential economic consequences. Additionally, risk assessments may address the effectiveness and cost-efficiency of the available risk management measures. Primarily, such measures include the requirements imposed by legislation on imported goods and the preventive actions foreseen in legislation and contingency plans.
The plant health risk assessments carried out by the Finnish Food Authority may deal with the pests regulated under the plant health legislation or other pests that pose a threat to agriculture, horticulture or forestry not yet established in Finland.