Background

Animal and Plant Trade Standard-Setting Activities

The Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is accepting public comments on the sanitary and phytosanitary standards under consideration by the World Organization for Animal Health, the International Plant Protection Convention, and the North American Plant Protection Organization.

The major functions of the WOAH are to collect and disseminate information on the distribution and occurrence of animal diseases and to ensure that science-based standards govern international trade in animals and animal products. The WOAH aims to achieve these through the development and revision of international standards for diagnostic tests, vaccines, and the safe international trade of animals and animal products.

The IPPC aims to prevent the spread and introduction of pests of plants and plant products and to promote appropriate measures for their control through the following activities: developing, adopting, and implementing international standards for phytosanitary measures; harmonizing phytosanitary activities through adopted standards; facilitating the exchange of official and scientific information among countries; and providing technical assistance to developing countries. Projects currently under development and intended for future adoption include phytosanitary certificates in relation to reexports, e-commerce, and phytosanitary treatments.

NAPPO coordinates efforts among the U.S., Canada, and Mexico to protect their plant resources from the entry, establishment, and spread of harmful plant pests while facilitating safe intra- and inter-regional trade. Topics currently being worked on include consignments in transit, imports of wooden and bamboo commodities, risk-based sampling, and electronic phytosanitary certification.

Import Restriction Eased on Meat from Two Areas

The Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has announced its final concurrence with the World Organization for Animal Health’s recognition of Bolivia and the United Kingdom’s zone of Jersey as being of negligible risk for bovine spongiform encephalopathy. This action eases associated restrictions on meat imports from these countries.

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