News Releases

DATE:	July 8, 2004
CONTACT:	Mark Condon
	(703) 837-8140

Limiting International Movement of Plant Pests

International travelers need to be especially aware of their potential to inadvertently transport exotic plant pathogens. Here are a few points to keep in mind when visiting foreign agricultural regions and inspecting production fields, green houses, processing plants, or other locations where they could come in contact with plant pests not found in the USA.


• Before traveling internationally, determine what unique pests or pathogens infest the crops of the countries you will be visiting and are not currently present in the USA. When inspecting fields, preferably wear some type of disposable boots or old shoes that can be discarded before leaving the host country. If you must take your shoes with you, be sure to remove all soil particles and rinse with an alcohol or bleach solution to surface sterilize the shoes. If you come in contact with diseased plants, plant parts, or tissues launder or dispose of your clothing before leaving the country. You do not want to transport spores, mycelium, eggs, or other pest propagules on your clothing. Similar precautions should be taken within the country if traveling between disease infested areas and areas of the country thought to be disease free.

• Do not collect diseased plant samples unless you have the proper permits from the government of the host country.

• Do not transport any diseased or healthy plant samples back to the USA unless you have the proper permits from the host country and the USDA APHIS-PPQ. Importing any prohibited/restricted material is considered smuggling, and if the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) determines that this effort is deliberate, criminal charges can result.

• Returning travelers MUST correctly state on the INS (or country equivalent) form that they have visited a farm, and they must go though the Agricultural Inspection lane at the port of arrival. (Seed fields, research centers and seed plants should all be considered farming operations.). Failure to do either CAN result in criminal charges. In the USA, criminal charges would reflect badly on the company and may result in penalties to the employer. If the employee is not a US citizen (i.e. Resident Alien/Green Card holder) the Resident Alien Visa can be revoked and the person expelled from the USA.

• In addition to plant pathogens, there is the very real possibility to transmit animal pathogens. In many countries, animal diseases such as foot and mouth disease or hog cholera are still common. These areas often overlap with seed and crop production of interest to seed companies. Animal diseases require similar sanitary precautions as for plant pathogens.


Remember every year we have a significant number of people in agriculture traveling internationally viewing breeding nurseries, seed production fields, and commercial crop production. We do not want any of these trips to result in the introduction of a disease into the USA that would harm our agriculture.

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Founded in 1883, the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA), located in Washington, DC, is one of the oldest trade organizations in the United States. Its membership consists of about 900 companies involved in seed production and distribution, plant breeding, and related industries in North America. As an authority on plant germplasm, ASTA advocates science and policy issues of industry importance. Its mission is to enhance the development and free movement of quality seed worldwide.