. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SPS/N/MEX/179
4 March 2002
(02-1077)
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:  Spanish
NOTIFICATION OF EMERGENCY MEASURES
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  MEXICO          
If applicable, name of local government involved:           
2. Agency responsible:  Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources          
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national schedules
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where
applicable). Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or
practicable:  Pests          
4. Title and number of pages of the notified document:  Emergency Mexican Official
Standard NOM-EM-002-RECNAT-2002, Technical Guidelines to Combat and Control the
Eucalyptus Psyllid Glycaspis Brimblecombei  (11 pages)
5. Description of content:  This Standard establishes the mandatory technical guidelines to
assess, combat and control the eucalyptus psyllid when affecting eucalyptus trees in urban
areas, reforested areas, areas which have been afforested for reasons of conservation,restoration or commercial production, and federal, state and private nurseries.
6. Objective and rationale:  [     ] food safety,  [     ] animal health,  [     ] plant protection,
[    ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease, [  X ] protect territory from
other damage from pests           
7. Nature of the urgent problem(s):
0.1    In accordance with the Forestry Law and its regulations, it is the Ministry's task to
dictate the Mexican official standards for preventing, controlling and combatting pests and
forestry diseases.
0.2    In accordance with the Federal Plant Health Law, phytosanitary measures will be
applied to combat pests which affect forest resources.
0.3    The eucalyptus psyllid causes severe defoliation, the death of branches, a reduction in
aesthetic value, an increase in the risk of attack from tunnelling insects and an increase in
the cost of urban woodland maintenance;  it also reduces the diameter and height, lengthens
the harvesting cycle, lowers the commercial value and quality of products, and increases
production costs, and may therefore become a restrictive factor when establishing
commercial plantations of such types of tree.  Being an insect of Australian origin, theeucalyptus psyllid is considered to be subject to quarantine and of high phytosanitary risk to
Mexico.G/SPS/N/MEX/179
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0.4    According to assessments carried out in areas noted for the presence of psyllid in the
counties of California, USA, these pests can cause the death of 15 per cent of eucalyptus
trees infested in the first year and around 30-40 per cent during the second year of
infestation.
0.5    The spread of the eucalyptus psyllid towards the south-east region of Mexico creates a
phytosanitary risk for the 12,000 hectares of commercial eucalyptus plantations which are
located mainly in the states of Veracruz and Tabasco.
0.6  Currently, the eucalyptus psyllid mainly affects eucalyptus of the Eucaliptus
Camaldulensis species and those termed as 'red', which are planted in the states of Baja
California, Sonora, Sinaloa, Michoacán, Zacatecas, Mexico, Aguascalientes, Querétaro, San
Luis Potosí, Jalisco and Mexico City (Distrito Federal), amongst others.
0.7   Phytosanitary measures are necessary to control and combat the eucalyptus psyllid in
those states which have eucalyptus plantations and nurseries.
8. An international standard, guideline or recommendation does not exist [  X ].  If an
international standard, guideline or recom mendation exists, give its appropriate
reference and briefly identify deviations:           
9. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available :  Diario Oficial de la
Federación (Official Journal) 30 January 2002 (available in Spanish)          
10. Date of entry into force/period of application (as applicable):  Day following publication
in the Diario Oficial de la Federación  (31 January 2002), applicable for six months from
the time of publication.          
11. Texts available from/and agency or authority designated to handle comments:
[ X ] National notification authority, [     ] National enquiry point or address, fax
number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:
Website:  www.economia-normas.gob.mx  (Standards catalogue)