APHIS' Plant Inspection Stations: Protecting American Agriculture From Foreign Pests and Diseases. Program Aid No. 1942

摘要

Each year, Plant Health Safeguarding Specialists with the U.S. Department of Agricultures (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) inspect a large volume of plants that are mailed, carried, and shipped into this country by brokers, travelers, and nursery owners. In fiscal year (FY) 2006 alone, more than 1.3 billion plants were imported into the United States. Such imports go through a series of overlapping safeguarding measures before entry into the country to prevent the introduction of exotic pests and diseases (e.g., the Asian longhorned beetle and a damaging strain of potato brown rot that could be imported on geraniums) that threaten U.S. agriculture and natural resources. Once the commodities arrive in the United States, specialists with APHIS Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) program perform their own inspections of these plants, cuttings, and seeds and review all associated permits and documentation to ensure that the shipments comply with import regulations and that any pest or disease risks are sufficiently mitigated. To assist in this effort, PPQ has established 17 plant inspection stations located at ports-of-entry throughout the country at major international airports and seaports and at major crossings along the U.S.Mexican border.