The technical guidelines are written in a short, direct, sometimes telegraphic style, in order to keep the volume of the document to a minimum and to facilitate updating. The guidelines are divided into two parts. The first part makes general recommendations on how best to move germplasm of the crop concerned and mentions available intermediate quarentine facilities when relevant. The second part covers the important pests and diseases of quarentine concern. The information given on a particular pest or disease does not pretend to be exhaustive but concentrates on those aspects that are most relevante to quarentine. Where possible, acronyms for viruses are according to Hull et. al (1991).

Loss of plant diversity: a call for action; List of acronyms and abbrediations; Before setting out; In the field; Back at base; Case-studies.