USDA bans imports of ash plants

USDA bans imports of ash plants The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has released interim rules, effective Sept. 23, banning the import of ash plants from all countries, except for certain areas in Canada that are not regulated areas for the emerald ash borer.
   The emerald ash borer is native to Asia and is known to exist in China, Korea, Japan, Mongolia, the Russian Far East and Taiwan. It kills ash trees by boring beneath the bark and disrupting their vascular tissues.
   The pest was first found in North America in ash trees in several counties in Michigan in July 2002, and has since spread to forests in Ontario, Canada, and Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. These states have quarantined the infested areas and imposed restrictions on the intrastate movement of certain articles to help prevent the spread of the pest.
   Like the USDA, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has conducted surveys and eradication programs against the emerald ash borer in the Ontario area.
   The USDA will take public comments regarding the interim rules through Nov. 24. For more details, access the Federal Register notice: edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/E8-22194.htm.