Change in APHIS Plants/Plant Parts for Planting Procedures?

Lee Poulsen wpoulsen@pacbell.net
Mon, 09 Dec 2019 17:38:20 PST
While reading Terry’s email and his questions, I recalled that on my plant import permit, there was the front, “permit” page, followed by several pages of conditions about the permit that I had usually ignored until one inspection agent called me on one occasion asking about my compliance with one of the conditions listed in those pages. That’s when I learned that even if I don’t read them, some of the agents will.

So I pulled up my permit and was reading through the conditions looking for information about a possible maximum number limit as well as Terry’s multiple genera question.

As for the maximum limit, I found this condition:
“The importer or designee is responsible for confirming with CBP and PPQ at the destination port in advance of each shipment, that CBP and PPQ has the capacity to clear or handle permitted air, land, and maritime cargo shipments, including bulk, mail, and express consignment shipments.” 

So I take this to mean there isn’t a designated maximum number of plants that one can import in one shipment; it just depends on the capacity of the inspection station. I should have guessed this since the big commercial importers typically import hundreds or thousands of plant at a time, and the Dutch bulb importers most likely import 100s of thousands of bulbs at a time. Maybe millions?

As for multiple genera, I think I was worried about this, too, and on my application I listed a large number of genera I might possibly import. Consequently, on my permit they started listing a few of them, then wrote “Amaryllidaceae and Liliaceae”. (Now I’m worried that it doesn’t also list Iridaceae, nor any of the obscure families!)

I also noticed that for Countries of Origin I must have listed a huge number of countries where bulbs grow because they listed about 20 of them, then added “Various approved countries”!

The sender always has to provide the phytosanitary certificate. This has always been the limiting factor in using this permit because APHIS will not allow you to get a phytosanitary inspection and certificate after a plant or bulb arrives here. But on the other hand, in many cases the sender has no way to get the inspection or certificate him or herself. I realized I didn’t know how to get one if I wanted to export to a friend abroad. (I looked it up, and found that there are local agencies that will do it for a price.) And in other cases, I’ve been told by people in some countries that the government there won’t allow “ordinary” people to obtain inspections or certificates, only big commercial firms are allowed, effectively disallowing hobbyists from sharing plant material internationally.

However, our friend Will Aley (whom Tony Avent mentioned) before he retired, managed to officially invent a new kind of import permit for experimental purposes. He described it a little and pointed us to its existence for us to research on our own. I’m still not completely clear on how to go about using it, but it appears to be a way to get around the phytosanitary inspection and certificate requirement at the country of origin by, in not so many words, building your own backyard quarantine station. You can look up what he wrote in the archives. Maybe one of you can figure it all out, and maybe it’s easy to do?

———————

In any case, I kept looking through the conditions on my permit, and at the end was some curious language about importing from Israel. Now I’m not a lawyer, but I do know English, and the interesting part appears to be a form of double negative. But not quite. So I am unsure what the final meaning is with regard to, specifically, bulbs. Here is the section:

“Plants for planting (except bulbs, dormant herbaceous perennials, and seeds) from Israel must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate at the time of arriving at the port of first arrival in the United States and must contain the following additional declarations stating,

“ ‘Plants were produced in an approved Israeli production site that is operated by a grower participating in the export program for plants established by the national plant protection organization (NPPO) of Israel' (see list of Approved Israeli Nurseries Spodoptera Exclusion Program, https://aphis.usda.gov/import_export/plants/… spodoptera.pdf);

“ and

“ ‘Plants were grown under conditions specified by APHIS as described to prevent infestation or contamination with Spodoptera littoralis or other quarantine pests.’ ” 

So maybe someone here can figure out the final meaning of the parenthetical statement in the first line: “(except bulbs, dormant herbaceous perennials, and seeds)”. It seems to be saying that all plants imported from Israel must have a phytosanitary certificate as well as the two declarations listed *unless* (?) they happen to be bulbs, dormant herbaceous perennials, or seeds. So does that mean that bulbs, dormant herbaceous perennials, and seeds can be imported from Israel without a phytosanitary certificate? We know this is true for seeds. So is it true for bulbs and dormant perennials?

I thought that maybe the PDF file mentioned might be more clear about this. However the APHIS website won’t let you go directly to that document by typing in the URL. It throws you onto a “Manuals” page which doesn’t list that PDF document. So I used their search box and typed in “Israel nurseries spodoptera” and the PDF document was the first hit. When you go to it, sure enough it has the URL listed above even though it doesn’t work as a link you can click to get there. But the page didn’t clarify anything. It kind of repeated the statement on my permit: 

“Plants for planting (*except* bulbs, dormant herbaceous perennials, and seeds) from Israel may enter the United States *only* if sent from one of the approved nurseries and locations listed in the Table 1 to prevent the entry of the plant pest Spodoptera littoralis.” 

This time, “except” and “only” were in boldface. Now I’m left wondering whether bulbs can be imported from Israel without getting a phytosanitary certificate as long as it comes from one of the nurseries listed in Table 1.

In any case, since I’m not a lawyer, I used their search box one more time to see if I could find anything more clarifying and simply searched on the word “bulb” expecting I’d get so many hits it would be ridiculous. The fifth hit had a most interesting title (which is why I’ve written all of this): “What Plant Material Requires a Permit?” <https://aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/…>

Jackpot!

The very first item is the “12 or less” requirement. However, it’s worded instead as a “13 or more” requirement. And the list of requirements is written in that same legalistic double negative type of language (and in fact there even appears to be a triple negative!). Maybe one of you has the training to understand what the resulting *allowable* items are (especially for that first bullet). So I’m just going to quote the entire page since it’s short:

“What Plant Material Requires a Permit?

“Last Modified: Apr 18, 2018

“Under the plants for planting quarantine (7 CFR 319 Subpart-Plants for Planting), the following restricted articles (other than articles for food, analytical, medicinal, or manufacturing purposes) in any of the following categories may be imported or offered for importation into the United States only after issuance of a written permit by Plant Protection and Quarantine:

“• Lots of 13 or more articles (other than seeds, bulbs, or sterile cultures of orchid plants) from any country or locality except Canada;
• Seeds of trees or shrubs from any country or locality except Canada;
• Articles subject to the special foreign inspection and certification requirements.
• Articles subject to treatment and other specific requirements listed in the plants for planting manual;
• Articles subject to  postentry quarantine conditions;
• Articles (except seeds) of Malus spp., Pyrus spp., Prunus spp., Cydonia spp., Chaenomeles spp. and Rubus spp., from Canada;
• Articles (except seeds) of Pinus spp. from Canada;
• Solanum tuberosum true seed from New Zealand and the X Region of Chile (that area of Chile between 39° and 44° South latitude—see Plants for Planting manual ;
• Articles (except seeds) of Fraxinus spp. from counties or areas in Canada that are not regulated for emerald ash borer (EAB) but are within an EAB-regulated Province or Territory
• Articles whose entry for propagation is Not Authorized Pending Pest Risk Analysis (NAPPRA)

“Other quarantines in 7 CFR  319 restrict and/or require permits for certain plants and plant parts. If you wish to import any of the following commodities, please see the appropriate quarantine:

“• Foreign Cotton and Covers
• Sugarcane
• Citrus
• Corn and Corn relatives
• Rice
• Wheat
• Coffee

“(Note: all herbaceous material of members of the grass family, Poaceae, is prohibited under 7 CFR 319 Subpart- Plants for Planting. The quarantines above for grasses (sugarcane, corn, rice and wheat) apply to seed, as well.)” 

———————

So does the first bullet mean that if you import 13 items or more you have to have an import permit from APHIS/PPQ? But if you are only importing 12 or fewer items (or you’re importing from Canada) you don’t need an import permit? And then there is the parenthetical statement about “other than” seeds, bulbs, or sterile orchid cultures. Is that a triple negative meaning the “12 or fewer” permission clause doesn’t apply to them and they *do* require an import permit? Or does it mean that if you’re importing seeds or bulbs or sterile orchid cultures, you neither have to have an import permit nor are you limited to 12 or fewer items?

Actually, if this all means that it’s permitted to import 12 or fewer bulbs without any kind of permit, then hallelujah! This would be a great official policy for those of us in the U.S.!

Someone please tell me this is so.  🙂

--Lee Poulsen
Pasadena, California, USA - USDA Zone 10a
Latitude 34°N, Altitude 1150 ft/350 m


> On Dec 9, 2019, at 1:08 PM, Terry Laskiewicz <fritillaria_3@hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi all
>   I asked about importing bare root hepaticas this week and got this reply.   I was able to get the permit and labels very quickly on the USDA site.   However I am not sure how many plants are permitted.  I also am not sure how the permit works  if you order more than one genus.  The sender would provide the phytosanitary certification.   An additional permit is needed if you are importing Cites plants or bulbs.
>        Terry Laskiewicz
>          zone 8, SW Washington
> 
> You small lots of seed permit does not cover plant material other than seed. In order to import this material you will need a separate PPQ 587 permit (as well as a phytosanitary certificate from the country of origin). In order to apply for the permit, please use the ePermits system. Select “planting and propagation” under the intended use box when adding the article.
> ________________________________
> From: pbs <pbs-bounces@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> on behalf of Lee Poulsen <wpoulsen@pacbell.net>
> Sent: Monday, December 9, 2019 12:50 PM
> To: Pacific Bulb Society <pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net>
> Subject: Re: [pbs] Change in APHIS Plants/Plant Parts for Planting Procedures?
> 
> Did you really mean *with* phytosanitary certificates? If a shipment is accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate, it doesn’t matter if there are fewer than or greater than 12 items; they should all be able to be imported into the U.S.
> 
> 

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