United States of America General Requirements

General Information

For enquires about this standard email the Plant Exports Group:

plantexports@maf.govt.nz

To help Plant Exports process your email please record in the subject line of your email descriptive keywords which are relevant to your enquiry i.e. ICPR enquiry-Country-specific details.

For urgent enquiries phone, fax or email the Plant Exports Group

• Telephone: 0800 008 333 (selecting option 3, then option 4) Fax : 64 4 894 0733; or
• Email: plantexports@maf.govt.nz

Scope

As there are no New Zealand legislative requirements for certification of exported plant products, the technical phytosanitary requirements are determined by the importing country for plant produce being imported into their country. In this respect, ICPRs are MAF’s summary of the importing country’s legal requirements and thus forms a basis upon which export phytosanitary certification is provided.

Where an importing country operates on the basis of issuing import permits to their importers, the import permit conditions take precedence over any technical conditions contained in the MAF ICPR for that country.

This standard specifies the USA’s phytosanitary import requirements for plant products being exported from New Zealand. If a commodity or commodity group is not identified within this ICPR exporters should contact:

• USA directly to ascertain requirements

or

• MAF Biosecurity New Zealand (MAFBNZ). (Plant Exports)

Please note, the determination and provision of phytosanitary requirements, for a commodity not identified within an ICPR, is undertaken on a cost recovery basis. A link to the list of Plant Exports Fees and Charges is available on http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/regs/exports/plants/fees   

Users of this document are strongly advised to review all sections of the ICPR for the determination of a commodity’s phytosanitary requirements.

Phytosanitary Legislation

United States phytosanitary requirements are documented in the following legislation:

• The Plant Quarantine Act of 1912
• The Federal Seed Act of 1939
• The Federal Plant Pest Act of 1957
• The Federal Noxious Weed Act of 1974

Regulations under these Acts are contained within the United States of America's Code of Federal Regulations (various editions)

Definitions

Agricultural seed Kinds and varieties of grass, forage, and field crop seed that are used for seeding purposes in the United States:

Coated seed Any seed unit covered with any substance that changes the size, shape, or weight of the original seed. Seeds coated with ingredients such as, but not limited to, rhizobia, dyes, and pesticides are excluded.

Declaration A written statement of a grower, shipper, processor, dealer, or importer giving for any lot of seed the kind, variety, type, origin, or the use for which the seed is intended.

Guam Where used this includes the islands of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Herbaceous Plants having little or no woody tissue and persisting, usually, for a single growing season.

H. Perennial A plant that has the top growth dying down annually, but where the crown, roots, bulbs, or rhizomes survive the winter.

Hybrid When applied to kinds or varieties of seed means the first generation seed of a cross produced by controlling the pollination and by combining two or more inbred lines; one inbred or a single cross with an open- pollinated variety; or two selected clones, seed lines, varieties, or species. "Controlling the pollination” means to use a method of hybridization that will produce pure seed that is at least 75 percent hybrid seed. Hybrid designations shall be treated as variety names.

Kind One or more related species or subspecies that singly or collectively is known by one common name, e.g., soybean, flax, or carrot.

Lot of seed A definite quantity of seed identified by a lot number, every portion or bag of which is uniform, within permitted tolerances, for the factors that appear in the labelling.

Mixture Seeds consisting of more than one kind or variety, each present in excess of 5 percent of the whole.

Pelleted seed Any seed unit covered with a substance that changes the size, shape, or weight of the original seed in order to improve the “plantability” or “singulation” of the seed.

Shrub A woody plant of relatively low height, distinguished from a tree by having several stems rather than a single trunk.

Transhipment A shipment brought in to the USA from a foreign port for:

• Off-loading and shipping to another US destination on the same or another airline,
• Off-loading for shipment to another country,
• Off-loading for breakdown and shipment to multiple destinations, or
• Temporary off-loading for re-positioning.

Vegetable Seed Kinds and varieties that are or may be grown in gardens or on truck farms and are or may be generally known and sold under the name of vegetable seed.

General Requirements

Prohibitions

Import Permits

Phytosanitary import permits state the phytosanitary requirements for that commodity

Import permits are required for:

• Consignments comprising 13 or more individual articles of nursery stock (other than seeds, bulbs or sterile cultures of orchid plants). Refer Nursery Stock and Whole Plants
• All nursery stock / seed which requires either treatment on arrival or post export quarantine
• Bulbs of Allium sativum, Crocosmia spp., Gladiolus spp. and Watsonia spp.
• Articles of Zea mays
• Articles of Cocos nucifera
• Articles (except seed) of Dianthus spp.
• Articles (except seed) of Castanea spp. and Castanopsis spp. destined for
• California or Oregon
• Articles (except seed) of Pinus spp. (five leaved) destined to Wisconsin
• Articles (including seed) of Ribes spp. destined to Massachusetts, New York,West Virginia or Wisconsin
• Fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables
• Specified seed for sowing (see Seeds, Grains and Nuts for Sowing) including all seeds of trees and shrubs
• Microorganisms, micro biologicals and laboratory specimens.

Exporters/Importers are responsible for ensuring the permit is available at the time of the consignments arrival in the USA.

Where the import permit is not presented at the time of the request for MAFBNZ phytosanitary certification, the associated phytosanitary certificate must be endorsed with the following additional declaration:

Additional declaration: “Import permit not sighted”

Import permits are issued to importers and brokers residing in USA who must apply for the permit prior to the importation.

Import permits may be obtained from:

Permit Unit USDA - APHIS
Department of Agriculture
Unit 136, 4700 River Road
Riverdale, Maryland 20737-1236
USA

Telephone: 001 (301) 734-8645
Facsimile: 001 (301) 734-5786

Import permits may also be requested online at web01.aphis.usda.gov/ias.nsf/MainForm?OpenForm

Import conditions may be requested from the above address, or accessed via the internet at: www.aphis.usda.gov/favir

Import permit applications should be made at least 30 days before arrival of the article at the port of entry and should contain the following information:

• name, address (and telephone number) of the importer
• quantity and kind of plant material (scientific name)
• country of origin (where produced)
• intended port of entry to USA
• mode of transport (airfreight - mail etc.)
• expected date of arrival

Phytosanitary Certificates

Phytosanitary certificates are required for:

• nursery stock, cut flowers and foliage or other classes of plant, root, bulb, seed, or other plant product, for or capable of propagation
• seed shipments from New Zealand except for small lots of seed which may be imported into the USA under conditions (refer Seeds, Grains and Nuts for Sowing).
• where a negotiated pre-clearance work plan is in operation
• where an additional declaration or pre-export treatment is required.

Fresh fruit - apricots (Prunus armeniaca), nectarines, (Prunus persica var. nucipersica), peaches (Prunus persica), plums (Prunus domestica), cherries (Prunus avium) and their hybrids – effective 27 February 2009, the time at port of entry in the USA.

Fresh fruit - apple (Malus)-not pre-cleared by the USDA from New Zealand, avocado (Persea americana), blackberry (Rubus sp), blueberry/cranberry (Vaccinium spp), chinese gooseberry/kiwifruit (Actinidia spp.), currant (Ribes sp), loquat (Eriobotrya sp), grape (Vitis sp), feijoa/strawberry guava (Feijoa sellowiana), pear (Pyrus communis)-not pre-cleared by the USDA from New Zealand, asian pear (Pyrus pyrifolia)-not pre-cleared by the USDA from New Zealand, persimmon (Diospyros kaki) to Guam or the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianna Islands, raspberry (Rubus idaeus), strawberry (Fragaria sp), tomato (Lycopersicum L.)– effective 15 March 2009, the time at port of entry in the USA.

Phytosanitary certificates must be issued not more than 15 days prior to export of the consignment.

Quarantine Pests

The following quarantine pests are prohibited entry to the United States. Refer also to Maximum Pest Limits.

Note: The pest list represents well-documented organisms of greatest risk to the United States and is not an all-inclusive list of actionable pests. APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) may take quarantine action on organisms within the following higher taxa (url below) whether or not they are included on the pest list.

Shortcut to:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/plants/plant_imports/downloads/Qualstatement.pdf

Weeds

The following noxious weeds are prohibited from entry to the United States unless a written import permit has been issued.

Weed seeds - USA Federal noxious weed seeds are prohibited except under plant pest permit. Refer to USA Federal noxious weed list at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/weeds/index.shtml .

Parasitic plant seeds- prohibited except under plant pest permit (see Import permits).

Terrestrial Weeds

Maximum Pest Limits

Please note; for all commodities exported to the USA requiring MAF phytosanitary certificates, the following levels have been set by MAF to facilitate exports while still meeting the importing country’s minimum requirements for specified quarantine pests and soil.

Quarantine pests* specified by USA	0.5%
Soil (for all plant products excluding seed for sowing)	25g/600unit
Soil (seed for sowing)	0.1% by weight

*Quarantine pests for United States of America include organisms identified within:

• quarantine pests section of this ICPR
• additional declarations
• phytosanitary import permit
• categorised pest list (identified as actionable) refer link below

  www.maf.govt.nz/biosecurity/pests-diseases/registers-lists/commodity-pest-lists.htm

Ports of Entry

Consignments may only arrive, land or unload at ports which meet the following conditions:

• approved customs / quarantine ports of entry
• Agana, Guam
• named in the import permit

Consignments requiring mandatory treatment upon arrival may not enter through either Guam or the Northern Mariana Islands

Nursery stock and seed for sowing which requires a written import permit may only be imported through the following ports:

• Nogales, Arizona
• Los Angles, San Diego and San Pedro, California
• Miami and Orlando, Florida
• Honolulu (Airport), Hawaii
• New Orleans, Louisiana
• Hoboken and Jamaica, New York
• San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Brownsville, El Paso and Houston, Texas
• Seattle, Washington.

Transit Requirements

Consignments must comply with all USA quarantine requirements if landed in the USA.

Consignments transiting the USA which either do not meet the US import requirements or which would require mandatory treatment on arrival must be accompanied by a PPQ Transportation and Exportation Permit (T & E Permit). Importers can obtain a T&E Permit from USDA/APHIS-PPQ.

Transhipped shipments may require safeguarding measures as identified below:

Safeguard procedures to be implemented immediately upon off-loading include:

• Sealable containers will be sealed with tape or tarped with heavy plastic for sealing. Self sealing containers need not be tarped unless damaged or openings are obvious.
• Palleted cargo will be tarped with heavy plastic and sealed.
• Loose shipments in boxes without holes may be allowed to be transhipped without safeguarding if transferred in less than one hour. If a time period of more than one hour expires they must be tarped while awaiting transfer.
• Loose shipments in boxes with air holes will be tarped during off loading and while waiting transhipment.

Safeguard procedures to be implemented for breakdown at cargo shed:

• Shipment safeguards as above
• Boxes without holes, no action required
• Boxes with holes: the holes must be sealed with tape or entire box encased in a plastic bag as they are removed from safeguarded containers or pallets.

For consignments of agricultural and horticultural products transiting Hawaii the carrier shall notify USDA Honolulu at least 3 hours in advance of arrival of the consignment.

Consignments may transit a third country en-route to the USA under the following conditions. Where conditions are not met, the consignment may be refused entry by the USDA upon entry to the USA.

• the consignment may not be re-packed, stored, split or otherwise manipulated in the country it is transiting through
• the consignment must be protected from contamination in the country which it transits.

Re-export Requirements

All consignments imported into New Zealand and subsequently re-exported to the USA must meet USA import requirements for product from both the country of origin and from New Zealand.

Inspection on Arrival

All consignments are subject to inspection at the port of first arrival. All seed will remain at the port until released by an USDA-APHIS inspector.

Sampling Rate

Sampling rates, where known, are provided under the commodity section.

Treatment information

The following link directs importers to the Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) treatment manual which is an operational guide for selecting and conducting quarantine treatments approved by APHIS. Listed treatments include chemical treatments such as fumigation with methyl bromide, and nonchemical treatments with heat, cold, or irradiation.

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/plants/manuals/ports/treatment.shtml