USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) announced an emergency restriction on the importation of plants on August 14th, 2002, which deals a blow to the bonsai import and resale industry in the United States.
The new restriction requires, in addition to the normal import restrictions, that the plants be grown in a screened greenhouse environment in the two years before import, in sterile soil, on benches above the ground. Unfortunately, there is no "grace period" to allow growers time to accomodate the new rules, an omission which virtually guarantees a two-year interruption in the supply of imported bonsai as the growers and importers scramble to accommodate the new ruling.[HR]
Brussel Martin of Brussel's Bonsai says, the "new USDA ruling effectively bans importing bonsai for a period of two years."[HR]Since the restrictions come through Office of Management and Budget, bonsaiTALK can only assume this is an outgrowth of the Seattle Citrus Borer incident. However, why the new restrictions apply only to "artificially dwarfed plants" seems to be an unfair restriction on our activities.
USDA writes,
"We do not expect that this final rule will significantly affect the price of imported artificially dwarfed plants or have a significant effect on importers of artificially dwarfed plants" However, the basic rule of supply and demand states otherwise. It is my opinion that you can expect the prices of imported bonsai to triple or quadruple under the pressure of these expensive limitations!
USDA writes,
"This rule will not likely have a significant effect on the number of higher-valued plants imported from Asia." However, given the choice between complying with the requirements of growing trees in hygenic conditions in a screened environment in sterile media (and incurring costs and risks associated with the same) and simply selling those same trees in another market, one can easily predict an increase in cost and reduction in supply.
USDA dismisses bonsai as
"a recent phenomenon in the United States...highly time consuming and very labor intensive activity...practiced by a relatively small number of U.S. nurseries and households." This writer wonders whether this heavy-handed, knee jerk reaction on the part of USDA will cripple the industry in the U.S. We also wonder why the government singles out "Artificially Dwarfed Trees" from among the many possible vectors of pest introduction.
Regards,
Matt
Quote:
§ 319.37-5 Special foreign inspection and certification requirements.
(q) Any artificially dwarfed plant imported into the United States must have been grown and handled in accordance with the requirements of this paragraph and must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate of inspection that was issued by the government of the country where the plants were grown.
(1) Any growing media, including soil, must be removed from the artificially dwarfed plants prior to shipment to the United States unless the plants are to be imported in accordance with § 319.37-8.
(2) The artificially dwarfed plants must be grown in accordance with the following requirements and the phytosanitary certificate required by this paragraph must contain declarations that those requirements have been met:
(i) The artificially dwarfed plants must be grown for at least 2 years in a greenhouse or screenhouse in a nursery registered with the government of the country where the plants were grown;
(ii) The greenhouse or screenhouse in which the artificially dwarfed plants are grown must have screening with openings of not more than 1.6 mm on all vents and openings, and all entryways must be equipped with automatic closing doors;
(iii) The artificially dwarfed plants must be grown in pots containing only sterile growing media during the 2-year period when they are grown in a greenhouse or screenhouse in a registered nursery;
(iv) The artificially dwarfed plants must be grown on benches at least 50 cm above the ground during the 2-year period when they are grown in a greenhouse or screenhouse in a registered nursery; and
(v) The plants and the greenhouse or screenhouse and nursery where they are grown must be inspected for any evidence of pests and found free of pests of quarantine significance to the United States at least once every 12 months by the plant protection service of the country where the plants are grown. )
(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 0579-0176
Done in Washington, DC this 14th day of August 2002.
Peter Fernandez,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FRDoc.02-20940Filed8-16-02;8:45am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P\
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