APHIS Considering 148 Plant Taxa for New Import Prohibition
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is seeking comment on its determination that 148 taxa of "plants for planting" are either quarantine pests or hosts of quarantine pests and should therefore be added to APHIS' new lists of taxa of plants for planting whose importation is Not Authorized Pending Pest Risk Analysis (NAPPRA).
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Comments are due by September 26, 2011.
(“Plants for planting” includes living plants, plant parts, seeds, and plant cuttings. See ITT’s Online Archives or 07/25/11 news, 11072542, for initial BP summary announcing this APHIS notice.)
New NAPPRA Category Established by May 2011 Rule
In May 2011, APHIS issued a final rule that established a new category of plants for planting whose importation is not authorized pending pest risk analysis (NAPPRA) in order to prevent the introduction of quarantine pests into the U.S. The final rule established two lists of taxa whose importation is NAPPRA, one for quarantine pests and another for hosts of quarantine pests. See ITT’s Online Archives or 05/31/11 news, 11053128, for BP summary of the May 2011 final rule.)
Will Designate 148 Taxa as “NAPPRA” if no Comments Change its Determination
APHIS states that if, after considering comments received, its determination remains unchanged that the 148 taxa of plants for planting are either quarantine pests or hosts of quarantine pests, it will add the taxa to the appropriate NAPPRA list.
NAPPRA Taxa Cannot be Imported Pending Completion of Pest Risk Analysis
As explained in its May 2011 final rule, importation is prohibited of plants for planting taxa designated as NAPPRA, pending completion of a pest risk analysis, which must be requested.
APHIS added that it will allow any person to petition for a pest risk analysis to be conducted and after its completion will either: (i) remove the taxon from the category and allow its importation subject to general requirements; (ii) allow its importation subject to specific restrictions; or (iii) continue to prohibit its importation.
Scientific Evidence and Names of 148 Taxa Available Online
A complete list of the 41 taxa of plants for planting that APHIS has determined are quarantine pests and the 107 taxa of plants for planting that it has determined are hosts of quarantine pests is available here. In addition, APHIS is making available the data sheets with the scientific evidence it evaluated in making those determinations here.
Data Sheets Specify Instances Host Plants Would Be Allowed from Canada, Etc.
For taxa of plants for planting that are hosts of quarantine pests, the data sheets specify the countries from which the taxa’s importation would not be authorized pending pest risk analysis. In most cases, the importation of the host plant taxa would not be allowed from any country. However, in some cases, the host plant taxa would be allowed to be imported from Canada.
APHIS would allow such importation when Canada is free of the quarantine pest for which the taxa are hosts and when Canada’s import regulations and APHIS restrictions specific to Canada ensure that the pest would not be introduced into the U.S. through the importation of the taxa from Canada.
In a few cases, the host plant taxa would be allowed to be imported from countries that are currently exporting the taxa to the U.S., subject to restrictions in a Federal Order that was issued previously.
APHIS would continue to allow such importation based on its experience with importing those host plant taxa and its findings, through inspection, that they are generally pest free, and based on its determination that the restrictions in the Federal Order are sufficient to mitigate the risk associated with the quarantine pest in question.