APHIS Amends Plants for Planting Import Regulations
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is amending its regulations on imports of plants for planting, in a final rule that takes effect Jan. 15 (here). The final rule includes various changes to permitting requirements for specific plants and regions, as well as updates to general permit requirements for coated seeds and documentation requirements.
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Highlights of changes in the final rule are as follows:
List of articles needing permits. APHIS is reordering, adding, and deleting certain paragraphs in its list of categories of restricted articles that may only be imported into the U.S. following issuance of a written permit by APHIS at 7 CFR 319.37-3. The list will now be ordered so that broader categories are on top of the list. Duplicate categories are being removed. The final rule also requires permits for the importation of seed of herbaceous plants for planting that is coated, pelleted, or embedded in a substrate that obscures visibility.
Marking and identity. The final rule requires that the invoice or packing list indicating the contents of the shipment include the scientific names of the articles, and the quantity of plants for planting in the shipment. Quantity must be expressed in the number of plant units, or in kilograms for seeds.
Turkey added to CWR prohibited list. APHIS is adding Turkey to the list of countries from which the importation of restricted articles of Chrysanthemum spp., Leucanthemella serotina, and Nipponanthemum nipponicum into the U.S. is prohibited due to the presence of white rust of Chrysanthemum (CWR). An outbreak of CWR occurred in Turkey in 2007, APHIS said.
Other provisions. The final rule makes various other changes to the plants for planting regulations, including the following:
- Provide for an alternate additional declaration on phytosanitary certificates that accompany articles imported from a country in which potato cyst nematodes are known to occur
- Provide conditions for the importation of Prunus spp. articles from Canada that address the presence of plum pox potyvirus in that country
- Provide for the importation of Dianthus spp. (carnations) from the Netherlands
In a change from the proposed rule, the final rule does not include new definitions for “bulbs” and “dormant herbaceous perennials.” The agency had proposed to define bulbs and dormant herbaceous perennials as plants once they produce shoots.