Montserrat to Benefit from Regional Intervention Strategy Surveillance at Ports for the Prevention of the Entry of Pests and Invasive Species

Montserrat and other islands in the Eastern Caribbean are in line to benefit from the launch of the Caribbean Biosecurity Interceptions System (C-BIS).

C-BIS is a tool designed to address the updated pest lists and an intervention strategy for surveillance at ports for the prevention of the entry of pests and invasive
species in the region.

The system was adopted in principle at the 14th Annual Meeting of Caribbean Plant Health Directors Forum (CPHD). The CPHD Meeting came to an end on August 31st, with much discussion revolving around the challenges of COVID-19 and the threats of priority pests to the region.

The meeting discussed current plant health issues, provided updates on the 2020/2021 work plans and identified gaps in information when addressing several priority pest of the region, the protocols to be established in guiding the work plan and the approach to be adopted by the CPHD in 2022.

Some of the other areas covered during the meeting were Tuta absoluta.

Also known as the leaf miner, this is a destructive pest, which include tomato, peppers and eggplant and the
continued support for trapping and surveillance, diagnostics, emergency response and associated knowledge management.

The Tropical race 4 which affects bananas, plantains and other species already identified in two islands was
also discussed along with the Caribbean Biosecurity Interceptions System.