History and Structure
The Commission on the Harmonisation of Invertebrate Biological Control Agents (CHIBCA) was first established in 2003 with Franz Bigler as Convenor. He was succeeded by Jeff Bale (2006-2014) and by Josep A. Jaques (2014-). The Commission had 6 members originally (F. Bigler, Claude Alabouvette, Horst Bathon, Sylvia Blümel, Josep A. Jaques, and Joop C. van Lenteren) but also invited other scientists to attend meetings. Following the end of the EU-funded REBECA project in 2007 (see activities), CHIBCA was ‘reactivated’ with a primary role of representing IOBC in a joint panel on Biological Control Agents (BCA) with EPPO to review and update the ‘Positive List’ of ‘safe’ biological control agents, and to take on other activities as appropriate. Most of the scientists who served as IOBC-WPRS members in the joint EPPO/IOBC panel on BCA were also nominated by their countries as representatives.
At present (November 2024) four colleagues in addition to convenor and liaison-officer are representing IOBC-WPRS in the panel (Jana Collatz, Patrick De Clercq, Milka Glavendekic, and Annete Herz).
Activities
In winter 2003, Franz Bigler was contacted by the EU-DG Research and a meeting was held in early 2004 to discuss the idea of launching a policy support activity on the harmonized regulation of invertebrate biocontrol agents. The Commission first met in Zurich, Switzerland in July 2004 and its activities were suspended during the REBECA project. Based on a recommendation from REBECA, EPPO and IOBC agreed to establish a joint panel (https://www.eppo.int/ABOUT_EPPO/panel_composition/pm_biocontrol) which met for the first time in March 2008 in Wageningen. Since then, the panel has met every year.
Participants at the joint EPPO/IOBC panel on BCA in Helsinki (Finland), October 2024:
Contribution to EC-IBCA Study 2021/2022
In June 2021, the EU Council requested the EU Commission – DG SANTE to carry out a survey of the current situation regarding invertebrate biological control agents (IBCAs) for use in plant health and plant protection (Council Decision (EU) 2021/1102) in the EU. The objective of this study was to provide an overview of the current status on the introduction, production, evaluation, marketing and use of IBCAs within the territory of the EU, including an overview of the existing regulations in each Member State and an analysis of the potential for further development of IBCAs. The survey was carried out in 2022 and IOBC-WPRS was asked to participate in it as a stakeholder. The results of the survey have been made available by the EU Commission and can be accessed via their website at: https://food.ec.europa.eu/plants/plant-health-and-biosecurity/invertebrate-biological-control-agents-ibcas-against-plant-pests_en#study-requested-by-the-2021-decision
Achievements
As a result of the CHIBCA and REBECA activities, collaboration between EPPO and IOBC-WPRS was established. The IOBC CHIBCA members have contributed effectively to the joint panel and the following achievements have been made:
- Development of Standard PM 6/1 (2) ‘First import of exotic biological control agents for research under contained conditions’ (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/epp.12953), first approved in 1999 and updated in 2023,
- Development of Standard PM 6/2 (3) ‘Import and release of non-indigenous biological control agents’ (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/epp.12153), first approved in 2014 and updated in 2020,
- Development of Standard PM 6/3 (5)‘Biological control agents safely used in the EPPO region’ (https://www.eppo.int/media/uploaded_images/RESOURCES/eppo_standards/pm6/pm6-3-5-2024-en.pdf), first approved in 2001 and annually updated ever since,
- Development of Standard PM 6/4 (1) ‘Decision-support scheme for import and release of biological control agents of plant pests’ (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/epp.12495), approved in 2018,
- Development of Standard PM 6/5 (1) Host specificity testing of non-indigenous (classical)biological control agents used against invasive alien plants (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/epp.12954), first approved in 2023, and
- CHIBCA and the safety of biological control. General Assembly 2017, Riva del Garda, Italy. Download: Presentation (pdf)
Aim
The following objectives were formulated and approved by the IOBC-WPRS Council when CHIBCA was established in 2003:
- To collect information on the status of regulation requirements for Invertebrate Biological Control Agents (IBCAs) in countries of the WPRS and to compile an overview
- To organise a workshop with countries that participated in the data compilation together with stakeholders, such as the biocontrol industry and regulators. So far, two meetings organised by EPPO in conjunction with the joint EPPO/IOBC panel on BCA, have taken place in Rotterdam (2011) and Budapest (2015)
- To produce a document that gives detailed guidance on regulation procedures and data requirements for non-native and native IBCAs based on the content and guidelines in existing international documents (e.g. FAO, EPPO, OECD)
- To up-date and improve EPPO’s list of safe and widely used organisms