[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 141 (Monday, July 23, 2001)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 38137-38139]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-18299]
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Rules and Regulations
Federal Register
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Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 141 / Monday, July 23, 2001 / Rules
and Regulations
[[Page 38137]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
7 CFR Part 319
[Docket No. 00-119-1]
Importation of Nursery Stock, Plants, Roots, Bulbs, Seeds, and
Other Plant Products; Phytosanitary Certificates
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Policy statement.
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SUMMARY: This document gives notice that we intend to begin
consistently and routinely enforcing an existing requirement that a
phytosanitary certificate of inspection accompany restricted articles,
other than certain greenhouse-grown plants from Canada, that are
offered for importation into the United States under our foreign
quarantine regulations for nursery stock, plants, roots, bulbs, seeds,
and other plant products. While the regulations provide that a
phytosanitary certificate must accompany such items, this provision has
not been consistently enforced with regard to all shipments of
restricted articles arriving at U.S. ports of entry. Therefore, we are
providing this notification to alert affected importers and members of
the public that we intend to enforce this provision on a consistent,
uniform basis. This action is necessary in order to more effectively
mitigate the risk of introduction of foreign plant pests associated
with the importation of these commodities into the United States.
EFFECTIVE DATE: September 21, 2001.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. James Petit de Mange, CITES and
Plant Inspection Station Coordinator, Port Operations, PPQ, APHIS, 4700
River Road Unit 60, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-8295.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The regulations in 7 CFR part 319 prohibit or restrict the
importation into the United States of certain plants and plant products
to prevent the introduction of plant pests into the United States. The
regulations contained in ``Subpart Nursery Stock, Plants, Roots, Bulbs,
Seeds, and Other Plant Products,'' Secs. 319.37 through 319.37-14
(referred to below as the regulations), prohibit or restrict, among
other things, the importation of living plants, plant parts, and seeds
for propagation.
Nursery stock, plants, and other propagative plant material that
cannot be feasibly inspected, treated, or handled to prevent them from
introducing plant pests new to or not known to be widely prevalent in
or distributed within and throughout the United States are listed in
the regulations as prohibited articles. Prohibited articles may not be
imported into the United States, unless imported by the U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA) for experimental or scientific purposes under
specified safeguards.
Nursery stock, plants, and other propagative plant material that
can be inspected, treated, or handled to prevent them from spreading
plant pests are listed in the regulations as restricted articles.
Restricted articles may be imported into the United States if they are
imported in compliance with conditions that may include permit and
phytosanitary certificate requirements, inspection, treatment, or
postentry quarantine.
Paragraph (a) of Sec. 319.37-4 of the regulations requires that any
restricted article offered for importation into the United States,
other than certain greenhouse-grown plants from Canada, be accompanied
by a phytosanitary certificate of inspection (phytosanitary
certificate). Section 319.37-1 of the regulations defines a
phytosanitary certificate as a document relating to a restricted
article, which is issued by a plant protection official of the country
in which the restricted article was grown, which is issued not more
than 15 days prior to shipment of the restricted article from the
country in which grown, which is addressed to the plant protection
service of the United States (Plant Protection and Quarantine
Programs), which contains a description of the restricted article
intended to be imported into the United States, which certifies that
the article has been thoroughly inspected, is believed to be free from
injurious plant diseases, injurious insect pests, and other plant
pests, and is otherwise believed to be eligible for importation
pursuant to the current phytosanitary laws and regulations of the
United States, and which contains any specific additional declarations
required under the regulations.
A phytosanitary certificate documents the origin of the shipment
and ensures inspection in the country of origin by a member of the
national plant protection organization, thus helping to ensure the
shipment of clean commodities. Phytosanitary certificates are governed
under the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), a
multilateral treaty which is acknowledged by the World Trade
Organization in the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and
Phytosanitary Measures as the source for international standards for
phytosanitary measures affecting trade.
Phytosanitary certificates are recognized as an internationally
accepted form of pest risk mitigation. Pest risk mitigation at the
place of origin is often viewed as the most viable means of preventing
the introduction of plant pests. Signatories to the IPPC, which include
the United States and over 100 other countries, agree that pest risk
mitigation is a responsibility of the exporting country, and that they
are willing and able to issue phytosanitary certificates.
To date, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has
not consistently and routinely enforced the phytosanitary certificate
requirement in Sec. 319.37-4 in all instances involving the importation
of restricted articles under the regulations. Until now, our policy has
been not to reject a shipment based solely on the lack of a
phytosanitary certificate. We have enforced the requirement that a
phytosanitary certificate accompany shipments of restricted articles in
those situations where our regulations require that the phytosanitary
certificate include an additional declaration, proof of treatment, or
both. In other cases, our policy has provided APHIS inspectors the
latitude to allow entry of the shipment, even though it is not
[[Page 38138]]
accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate.
Growth in Plant and Seed Trade
In recent years, the amount of nursery stock, plants, and other
propagative plant material imported into the United States has grown
dramatically. For example, based on APHIS records, over 694 million
plants were imported into the United States in FY 1999, compared to 456
million plants in FY 1993. Seed imports into the United States have
increased from 8.7 million kilograms in FY 1997 to 12 million kilograms
in FY 1999. Based on Foreign Agricultural Trade of the United States
(FATUS) data, the value of nursery stock, plants, and bulbs imported
into the United States increased, in 1999 dollars, by 89 percent, from
approximately $275 million in 1990 to $520 million in 1999. The above
data for nursery stock, plants, and bulbs include certain greenhouse-
grown plants from Canada, some of which are not subject to the
phytosanitary requirement described in this notice. The value of seed
imports over the same 1990 through 1993 period increased, in 1999
dollars, by 144 percent, from approximately $188 million to $459
million. The increased value of imports of these products coming from
some of the United States' principal trading partners and regions is
shown in Table 1.
Table 1.--Value of U.S. Imports of Nursery Stock and Seed From Major Trading Partners and Regions, in 1990 and
1999, Expressed in 1999 Dollars
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Percentage
1990 million 1999 million increase in
Region dollars dollars imports, 1990-
1999
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Nursery Stock, Bulbs, etc.
Asia........................................................ $17.19 31.14 81
Canada...................................................... 94.17 234.35 149
European Union.............................................. 128.03 187.30 46
Latin America............................................... 27.71 49.03 77
Mexico...................................................... 7.41 13.65 84
Seeds--Field and Garden:
Asia........................................................ 57.59 100.09 74
Canada...................................................... 49.01 94.29 92
European Union.............................................. 29.29 65.95 125
Latin America............................................... 37.42 173.99 365
Mexico...................................................... 6.36 14.23 124
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Source: FATUS, USDA ERS. 1990 values are expressed in 1999 dollars, using a CPI inflation factor of 1.2821.
Just as important as the increased amounts of nursery stock,
plants, and other propagative plant material being imported into the
United States, more varieties and types of these commodities are being
shipped here from a greater number of foreign regions as a result of
improved transportation modes and technologies, as well as the general
movement towards a more globalized marketplace.
The expanded trade in these commodities has placed a greater demand
on APHIS' inspection services. It has also presented us with new
challenges in better understanding the pest complexes and potential
pest risks associated with the importation of these commodities from a
wider variety of sources. Consequently, our need for verifiable
information as to the place of origin, as provided in a phytosanitary
certificate, has become vital with respect to each shipment of nursery
stock, plants, and other propagative plant material offered for
importation into the United States.
Safeguarding Report
In 1998, we asked the National Plant Board (NPB) to review our
efforts to safeguard American agriculture and plant resources. The NPB
assembled 43 stakeholders from States, industry, academe, and
environmental groups to conduct extensive research, interviews, site
visits, and other interactions with APHIS and its stakeholders, and to
prepare a thorough analysis of the challenges facing the safeguarding
system. The 1999 report, ``Safeguarding American Plant Resources, A
Stakeholder Review of the APHIS-PPQ Safeguarding System,''\1\ evaluates
APHIS' pest exclusion measures, international pest information systems,
use of permits, and detection and response efforts. The report also
provides a number of recommendations and action plans for improving
APHIS' safeguarding efforts. Among its recommendations, the report
urges APHIS to more vigorously pursue offshore pest mitigation
measures, including the use of phytosanitary certificates consistent
with the IPPC, as a means of supplementing its existing inspection
efforts at U.S. ports of entry.
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\1\ The Safeguarding Report is available upon written request
from the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. It is
also available on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/safeguarding.
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Change in Policy
In light of the increased quantities, types of articles, and
sources of nursery stock, plants, and other propagative plant material
offered for importation into the United States, coupled with the
findings of the Safeguarding Report, which advocates greater use of
offshore mitigating measures such as phytosanitary certificates, we
have reevaluated our current policy of selective enforcement of the
phytosanitary certificate requirement in Sec. 319.37-4(a). We have
decided that it is necessary for us to enforce the phytosanitary
certificate requirement provided in Sec. 319.37-4(a) on a consistent,
mandatory basis with respect to all restricted articles offered for
importation into the United States in order to effectively mitigate the
risk of those articles introducing foreign plant pests into the United
States.
Analysis
This policy statement does not entail new regulatory requirements.
Rather, its purpose is to inform importers and the general public that
we will enforce an existing phytosanitary certificate requirement on a
mandatory, consistent basis, which is a change from our previous
policy. Importers and members of the general public will not be allowed
to import restricted nursery stock, plants, or other propagative plant
material into the United States without
[[Page 38139]]
an accompanying phytosanitary certificate.
Phytosanitary certificates must be obtained from an official agency
of the country where the goods originate. Typically, the commodity to
be imported must be inspected by a plant protection official of the
foreign country, who must certify where in the country of origin the
restricted article was grown or acquired its phytosanitary status and
state that the shipment is free of injurious plant diseases and plant
pests. The certifying country usually charges a fee for these services.
The actual fee varies from country to country and is based solely on
the criteria that the issuing country deems appropriate. As points of
reference, Canada charges C$17 Canadian dollars ($11.25US) and Mexico
charges 244 Mexican new pesos ($24.86US). Costs associated with
shipment certification that result from this notice are costs that may
not have been borne previously, only because phytosanitary certificate
requirements have not been regularly and uniformly enforced.
The percentage of restricted nursery stock, plants, and other
propagative plant material that currently enters the United States
without phytosanitary certification is not known. We do not maintain
such data. However, based on our own informal observations at ports of
entry, we believe that the vast majority of imported commercial plant
and seed shipments are accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate. We
have found that phytosanitary certificates are more likely to be absent
in small shipments imported by tourists, hobbyists, homeowners, small
businesses, or importers who are newcomers to the plant trade.
Mandatory, consistent enforcement of the phytosanitary certification
requirement for all restricted nursery stock, plants, and other
propagative plant material imported into the United States will help
minimize the plant pest risks associated with these imports without
subjecting affected importers and members of the general public to any
costs that they are not already expected to bear.
Therefore, we intend to begin consistently enforcing, in accordance
with Sec. 319.37-4(a), the requirement that a phytosanitary certificate
must accompany all shipments of restricted articles imported into the
United States, except for certain greenhouse-grown plants from Canada.
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 166, 450, 7711-7714, 7718, 7731, 7732, and
7751-7754; 21 U.S.C. 136 and 136a; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.3.
Done in Washington, DC, this 17th day of July 2001.
Bobby R. Acord,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 01-18299 Filed 7-20-01; 8:45 am]
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