Imported Plants Blamed For Invasive Pests

The Nature Conservancy is making a case for USDA to be as stringent with the importation of ornamentals as it is with fruits and vegetables. If USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service implements the conservancy's recommendations, risk assessments will need to be conducted for hundreds of plant genera before they can be imported again.

The conservancy's goal is to protect forests from devastating diseases, like Sudden Oak Death.

If the floodgates of imported plant material are open, how do we close them without disrupting our supply? What would you like to see APHIS do? Drop us a line at benchrunner@meistermedia.com.