by specialist editor Lorenz Wieland
The Asian long-horned beetle is considered a quarantine pest. If it is discovered then all possible host plants within 100 metres must be destroyed. A huge disaster for horticulture companies. Photo: Bayerische Landesanstalt für Landwirtschaft (The Bavarian regional office for agriculture) (LfL)
The central horticultural association ‘Zentralverband Gartenbau’ (ZVG), which is making the case for an insurance solution for quarantine pests, welcomes the announcement. The association stated that there are also other players involved and that it expects to be able to offer broad protection to all association members before the end of June 2018.
GV is now expected to offer its members a supplementary clause by the end of March 2018 that expands the existing cover correspondingly. If the clause is agreed then compensation will be paid in the event of an official quarantine order in the form of a ban on the movement of plants from areas of infestation or buffer zones. This GV product will trigger a claim for the following quarantine pests:
- Xylella fastidiosa (bacterial leaf scorch)
- ALB (Asian long-horned beetle)
- CLB (Citrus long-horned beetle)
Compensation would not be paid for plants that need to be eradicated or destroyed as a result of a quarantine order but it would be paid for consequential damage such as interruption of subsequent production for up to twelve months. For these cases GV points to the fact that the new EU regulation for protection from plant pests, to be applied from December 2019 onwards, includes state compensation plans for ordered eradication measures if there are national systems in place for this. GV see this as a call to both politicians and trade associations.
The expansion of the insurance protection will be offered both for greenhouse cultivation within the framework of the Hortisecur G product, as a supplement to so-called spoilage damage insurance (TV Verderb), and for open land production in the product Hortisecur F as an expansion of the additional multi-risk cover. A supplement to fire/shutdown insurance is planned for garden centres. The insurance protection fee that is due will vary in the different basic products. GV intends to send individual quotations to its members as soon as possible.
Zentralverband Gartenbau: Funds still on the table
ZVG welcomes this step by Gartenbau-Versicherung to support companies in their risk management and to allow them to spread their risk, at least for three quarantine organisms. The operations are facing problems right now and are looking for rapid solutions, the association added, calling this an initial approach. According to ZVG there are still other insurance companies in the running and it expects to be able to offer broad protection to all members before the end of June 2018.
So is the fund solution, preferred by the association of German nurseries (BdB), off the table? ZVG made a clear statement in this regard to the weekly newspaper TASPO on this controversial issue between BdB and ZVG: “ZVG is open to all solutions that serve the companies. In the end the politicians need to answer the question of whether a fund is a possible way to protect horticulture companies from risk”.
Spreading risk for quarantine cases as demanded in agriculture
In mid January ZVG demanded political support for the horticulture sector in quarantine cases, as is also possible in the agriculture sector via various risk spreading instruments. ZVG also declared itself in favour of the continuation of political discussions regarding compensation regulations on national and EU levels, regardless of the insurance solution requested by ZVG from various providers. ZVG has now clarified that the legal situation is very complex. There are several EU instruments but they may only have limited application for affected horticulture businesses. For example there are no plans yet for the national realisation of the ELER measures and this would require political consent.
ZGV is discussing all the options with politicians on a state and federal level and with the relevant authorities because compensation in quarantine cases is primarily the role of the federal states. “Unfortunately this complexity means that the rapid solution that our companies need so urgently is not to be expected.”
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