Lesson 3: Conducting Pest Risk Assessment for Trade

Topic 5: Developing Conclusions and Describing Uncertainty

After performing a pest risk assessment, you must document and report your findings. This lesson provides some general advice on finishing your PRA.

Objectives:

  • Know how to handle uncertainty
  • Know where to find PRA examples and guidelines

The final step in the risk assessment process involves developing conclusions and describing uncertainty.

PRA Process

How should I record and document the findings of my PRA?
Documentation

The SPS Agreement requires that member countries provide documentation of any risk assessment used as a rationale for phytosanitary measures affecting imports. The IPPC has similar obligations for transparency of phytosanitary measures. The documentation and distribution of PRAs meets these international obligations.

According to ISPM 11: Pest Risk Analysis for Quarantine Pests (2013), these are the main elements of a PRA document:

  • Purpose of the PRA
  • Pest, pest list, pathways, PRA area, endangered area
  • Sources of information
  • Conclusions of risk assessment
    • Categorized pest list
    • Probability
    • Consequences
  • Risk management
    • Options identified
    • Options selected
Uncertainty

There are many uncertainties associated with pest risk assessment. Where appropriate, it is important to explain uncertainties in the documented PRA using either a verbal description or statistical, quantitative data. It is also important to indicate where expert judgment has been relied on. The documentation of uncertainties will make the PRA document more open and transparent. See the links provided next for examples of how some organizations have explained uncertainty.

Examples and Additional Guidelines

There are many examples of PRA reports online. Follow this link to organism PRA examples provided by the EPPO: http://www.eppo.int/QUARANTINE/Pest_Risk_Analysis/PRA_intro.htm

The EPPO also provides computer software that can help you conduct a PRA. This software is called CAPRA—computer-assisted pest risk analysis. http://capra.eppo.org/index.php

Watch the video below to learn more.

course_01/lesson_03/topic_05/asset_001

For comparison, here is the USDA/APHIS document that provides detailed guidance on how the USDA completes a commodity import PRA.

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