Regulated or non-regulated pests (bacteria, virus, fungi, nematodes, arthropods or weeds) are responsible of major crops’ losses. Accurate and reliable detection and identification of pests are essential to avoid or reduce economical costs and trade disruptions and to support surveillance activities. In recent years, numerous tests based on new technologies have been developed to meet the different needs. However, most of them are validated on an intra-laboratory basis, through limited test performance studies (TPS) or ring trials, and there is a need to further harmonize practices. The project aims at producing validation data and will include two rounds of TPS. The first one will include combinations of pest/test/matrix, prioritized based on the expertise of the project's consortium. The second round will include other combinations based on the needs expressed by various stakeholders. Priorities for validation will then be better aligned to their needs and to the market. To maximize the impact of the project, calls of interest will be organized to include in the validation programme, kits of suppliers outside the consortium and allow participation to the TPS of voluntary proficient laboratories. Current harmonized procedures in Plant Health for validation and organization of TPS will be improved by including appropriate statistical approaches and by adapting the process for new promising technologies, such as Next Generation Sequencing. Liaison with regional and international standardization bodies will allow large dissemination of validation data obtained in this project especially by their inclusion in harmonized diagnostic protocols. The outcomes of the project will stimulate, optimize and strengthen the interactions between stakeholders in Plant Health for better diagnostics and lay the foundations for structuring the quality and the commercial offers for plant health diagnostics tools thanks to a dedicated association and a quality charter.

It is not possible to avoid all the challenges to plant health posed by global trade, increasing travel activities and climate change. However, it is possible to optimise strategies to address these challenges with effective cooperation and coordination. The success of the Euphresco self-sustained network as a platform for the coordination of European phytosanitary research has set the ground for discussions on the development of initiative(s) to address the needs of other regions of the world and on global phytosanitary research coordination. The aim of the project is to enhance national and regional phytosanitary research coordination beyond what the Euphresco self-sustained network has achieved and to set the foundations for global phytosanitary research coordination. This will be achieved by building on the foundations developed by the Euphresco self-sustained network and explore fit-for-purpose activities. The objectives of the project are: -To develop a strategic research agenda. The document will guide phytosanitary research programming activities of EU countries and support them to address regional and global challenges through synergies with other regions/continents of the world. -To organize joint calls on common research priorities to support and enhance international collaboration through the commissioning and implementation of research projects. Monitoring of the research projects will ensure that they remain relevant to the needs of the research funders and policy makers and impactful. -To develop and test models for the governance, the structure and the operation of a global network for phytosanitary research coordination. A business plan will be established to guide the development of a global network for phytosanitary research coordination. -To engage with relevant plant health research stakeholders and foster knowledge exchange, engagement in the project activities, co-development, dissemination and adoption of outputs.