USDA considers lightening requirements for small seed-lot importers

USDA considers lightening requirements for small seed-lot importers    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is considering amendments to its phytosanitary certification process for importers of small seed lots.
   “This proposed change is necessary because several entities that import small lots of seed — individual importers, horticultural societies, arboreta, and small businesses — have had difficulty obtaining necessary certificates and have been adversely affected by the phytosanitary certificate requirement,” the agency said.
   Many of these plant societies import seeds of various genera from several different seed donors in consolidated shipments, which they in turn distribute to their members.
   To comply with the phytosanitary certificate requirement, each packet of seed from each genus and each donor within the consolidated shipment would be required to be inspected and certified.
   “In many cases, these importers and exporters have been unable to obtain the necessary phytosanitary certificates because the official plant protection agency of the exporting country did not offer inspection services, or phytosanitary certificates, for small shipments of seed because the time required to complete the inspection would have made the process cost-inefficient,” USDA said.
   “In cases where inspection services and phytosanitary certificates were available for small lots of seed, the costs of the inspection and the certificate, which vary by country but can be as much as $100 or more, were prohibitive and often equal to several times the value of the commodity itself,” the agency added.
   USDA proposes in place of certificates to allow small seed-lot shippers (a maximum of 50 seed packets per shipment) to use a permit.
   The agency will take comments on the proposed rule through June 28. For more information, contact Arnold Tschanz at (301) 734-5306.