2013-2014 Changes to the U.S. Phytophthora ramorum Regulation (Quarantine) for Nursery Stock Interstate Shipping: Shifting Towards Comprehensive Nursery Cleanliness

2013-2014 Changes to the U.S. Phytophthora ramorum Regulation (Quarantine) for Nursery Stock Interstate Shipping: Shifting Towards Comprehensive Nursery Cleanliness

Posted on behalf of Stacy E. Scott, USDA APHIS

Over the past few years, the United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) has been working with State Departments of Agriculture and the National Plant Board to improve the U.S. Phytophthora ramorum regulation, with a goal of continued prevention of pathogen movement while also reducing costs and the regulatory burden on nurseries.  Below is a summary of the 2013-2014 updates to the U.S. P. ramorum regulation for interstate shipping of nursery stock.

For Discussion: To prevent the spread of known and unknown pests, regulators are proposing to shift towards managing nursery cleanliness using critical control points (CCPs) and best management practices (BMPs).  Do you have any suggestions, concerns, or comments on this approach?  

A Risk-Based Regulatory Approach
For the U.S. Phytophthora ramorum regulation, a Federal Order (DA-2013-27) was issued July 2013 that dropped certification requirements (annual inspections, sampling, and testing) for non-host nurseries in the regulated areas of CA, OR, and WA.  The intent of the Order is to reduce the regulatory burden on the more than 1,500 nurseries where P. ramorum has not been detected since regulations for nurseries outside the quarantine area were first put in place 10 years ago. This change does not apply to the quarantine counties (14 CA counties and part of Curry County, OR).

Additionally, as a result of 3 years of analysis by PPQ in collaboration with subject matter experts from the State Departments of Agriculture, the National Plant Board, and industry, another Federal Order (DA-2014-02) was issued January 10, 2014 with an implementation date of March 31, 2014.  This Order targets high-risk nurseries (recently and/or recurrently positive in the past 3 years) and requires an enhanced compliance program. All nurseries found positive in the past 3 years that wish to retain interstate shipping status will be subject to increased inspection, sampling, and testing.  In addition, any U.S. interstate shipping nursery found positive will be regulated and required to address critical control points (CCPs) via remediation, mitigation, and best management practices (BMPs) in order to retain their interstate shipping status. Conversely, certification and annual inspection, sampling, and testing will no longer be required for host nurseries in the regulated areas where P. ramorum has never been detected or has not been detected in the last 3 years.  This relieves the regulatory burden for more than 1,400 nurseries in the regulated areas of CA, OR, and WA. APHIS will provide FY14 funding to regulated states to conduct CCP/BMP outreach to host nurseries where certification is no longer required.

For more information on the latest Federal Order, go to http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/pram/downloads/pdf_files/DA-2014-02.pdf or contact Stacy E Scott at USDA APHIS PPQ, at (970) 494-7577 or stacy.e.scott@aphis.usda.gov.

Stacy, This is not directed at you personally but as I  understand the new regulation, the only detections that will occur outside of the quarantine counties would now be in the yearly nursery inspections.  Isn't this how the major event took place in 2004 with infected host plants being shipped all over the country from a nursery outside of the quarantined counties that was not being inspected for P. ramorum?  Are we not taking a step backwards as far as regulation or inspections go?

I share Mark's concerns.  P. ramorum continues to be detected on new species; detection of new hosts will now be more difficult.  

I am also concerned about releasing from regulation nurseries that have not tested positive for 3 years.  During this period, tests were for disease on plants only.  Only now is APHIS searching for & "counting" presence of the pathogen in water, soil, cull piles, etc.  So I think it is likely that some of these "clean" nurseries actually have P. ramorum somewhere in the nursery - it just did not cause disease for 3 years.

Faith