I'm re-posting the following from Alpine L, given it's importance. There are only two posts so far, the first from Joyce Fingerut, and the second from Tony Avent. I'll post Tony's separately. I suggest that one of the moderators contact both Joyce and Tony and suggest that they post here in the future, as Alpine L is just about run its course.
"You may be interested to note - and to read - the following Draft Standard: Integrated Measures Approach for Plants for Planting in International Trade
The International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC; https://www.ippc.int/IPP/En/default.jsp)
is proposing a new Standard concerning the international movement of Plants for Planting. Their website contains the draft standard, which is now open for comment by the member countries of the IPPC.
(Go to: https://www.ippc.int/index.php?id=207803
See Draft 3, and click on the appropriate language in the Publication column;
or contact me for a pdf file)
An International Standard sets guidelines, not rules, that the signatory countries (all 173 of them) have agreed to follow when formulating their own regulations/rules governing imports and exports. While this Standard excludes seeds, it will eventually have a direct effect on the export/import of plants around the world, so many of our fellow plant society members will be affected by the resulting national regulations.
The latest thinking concerning the problems of pests associated with the movement of plants around the world is that these problems are best mitigated at the source, by the exporters (place of production), rather than caught by the importers (pest risk analyses, inspections). See page 5 for a quick summary of the underlying reasoning. Ideally, if each country based its phytosanitary standards on the same philosophy, there would be no discrepancies in the level of requirements (just the specifics of pests and types of mitigations measures).
Regulations written by any country may only pertain to "quarantine"
pests: i.e.: those with known negative economic effects, that are not already present in the importing country (or present in limited numbers, with an official control program). However, in protecting against known pests, an integrated measures approach may additionally protect against pests that are currently unknown to science or the industry.
The "Requirements" list offers factors that should be considered by each country's National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) when proposing measures to deal with pest risk management. Factors, within production and use, are broadly ranked in order of their increasing risk level.
"General Integrated Measures" describes the overall controls that should be exercised by any place of plant production in order to be "authorized" to grow plants for export, including production, storage, movement of plants - as well as recording of all relevant information (plans, manuals, inspections, etc.).
Keep in mind that Standards are only guidelines, offering factors that
should be taken into account when proposing national regulations.
Governments will eventually draft specific rules, depending upon their
chief production crops, and their primary trading partners.
Naturally, each country, and its plant industry, would prefer to minimize its level of control on production/export (which can be
costly to initiate) and maximize the requirements for imports.
However, by international agreement, these phytosanitary requirements must not act, in lieu of tariffs, as a barrier to trade. It is hoped that, in the end, with each country monitoring and mitigating its own pest risks, all countries will benefit by seeing a reduced incidence of new pests, with their resulting negatvie economic and/or environmental impacts.
To send comments, or ask questions, please see https://www.ippc.int/index.php?id=1110520&no_cache=1&type=contactpoints&L=0
...for the contact organization for your country. The names of the officials may be somewhat out of date, but it will set you in the right direction. Comments are sent via your country representative, not directly to the IPPC.
For preliminary questions, before your contact your NPPO, I will be glad to help where I can."
Joyce Fingerut
Stonington, CT
Zone 6