APHIS Issues 2006 Information on Asian Gypsy Moth, Potentially Affected Ports/Vessels, Etc.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has issued a document entitled, Taking Emergency Action for Suspect Asian Gypsy Moth (AGM) Ships (AGM Emergency Action), which outlines APHIS' plan to prevent the artificial spread of AGM (Lymantria dispar) from high-risk areas including Far East Russian and Japanese ports. According to APHIS sources, the guidelines and requirements detailed in the AGM Emergency Action have been in place since the early 1990s.
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The following are highlights of the AGM Emergency Action's provisions (partial list):
APHIS vessels potentially affected by AGM egg laying. APHIS has developed a list of vessels that called at Far East Russian and Japanese ports between July 15 - September 30, 2005 (i.e., the recorded egg laying dates for the AGM). APHIS is asking shipping interests not to charter ships that called at such ports during the egg laying period for voyages that would put the ships in U.S. or Canadian ports during the high-risk egg hatching period, which varies geographically. However, APHIS notes that this is a voluntary exclusion and such ships will be subject to inspection at U.S. ports.
APHIS may order infested ships to leave U.S. waters. In addition to requesting that certain high-risk vessels not be chartered during certain times, APHIS states that any ship that arrives during a high-risk egg hatching period and is found infested will be ordered to leave U.S. waters immediately. APHIS sources note that in such cases, the vessel is ordered to pull away from the dock and undergo AGM treatment before re-docking.
Inspection guidelines. In addition, the AGM Emergency Action contains detailed information on inspection processes for ships as well as treatment procedures. Procedures for such ships vary according to, among other things, whether the ship is on the alert list, whether the ship is arriving during low-risk periods, the U.S. port the ship is arriving at, etc. See AGM Emergency actions for complete details.
APHIS Emergency Action (dated 02/2006) available at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/ispm/gm/guidelines.pdf
Lists of affected ports and vessels, as well as additional information on the AGM available at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/ispm/gm/index.html