The European Commission requested the EFSA Panel on Plant Health to prepare and deliver risk
assessments for commodities listed in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2019 as ‘High
risk plants, plant products and other objects’. This Scientific Opinion covers the plant health risks posed
by the following commodities: (i) dormant and free of leaves 1-year-old bare rooted plants and (ii) free
of leaves 1-year-old liners of Ficus carica imported from Israel, taking into account the available
scientific information, including the technical information provided by Israel. The relevance of any pest
for this opinion was based on evidence following defined criteria. Four EU quarantine pests, Euwallacea
fornicatus, Hypothenemus leprieuri, Scirtothrips dorsalis and Spodoptera frugiperda, and 11 EU nonregulated pests fulfilled all relevant criteria and were selected for further evaluation. For these pests,
the risk mitigation measures proposed in the technical dossier from Israel were evaluated separately
for bare rooted plants and for liners, taking into account the possible limiting factors. For these pests,
an expert judgement was given on the likelihood of pest freedom taking into consideration the risk
mitigation measures acting on the pest, including uncertainties associated with the assessment. The
estimated degree of pest freedom varied among the pests evaluated. Aonidiella orientalis and
Russellaspis pustulans were the most frequently expected pests on the imported bare rooted plants,
and Scirtothrips dorsalis on liners. The Expert Knowledge Elicitation indicated, with 95% certainty, that
between 9,585 and 10,000 bare rooted plants per 10,000 would be free of Aonidiella orientalis and
Russellaspis pustulans and between 9,456 and 10,000 liners per 10,000 would be free of Scirtothrips
dorsalis