Alexandria, Virginia, USA
November 18, 2009

Source: American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) Seed E-News 18 November 2009

For ASTA's member companies that move seed internationally, phytosanitary issues continue to become more and more complex. Entry requirements are constantly changing, seed testing methods for new pests of concern are often lacking, and testing and mitigation measures vary considerably from one country to another, even for the same pests and pathogens on the same kind of seed. Changes and additions to countries' entry requirements often make it much more difficult, if not impossible, as well as expensive, for companies to meet these requirements, resulting in the creation of technical trade barriers. Although international market demands for U.S. seed are on the increase, international standards and country phytosanitary regulations have not kept pace with the seed industry's need to move seed internationally. As a result, companies suffer millions of dollars in unnecessary testing, treatments, demerge costs and lost sales.

One of the biggest international problems currently for seed companies is the issue of re-export. For many years re-export was not a major problem because importing countries were not enforcing the requirement for the seed's country of origin to be declared on the phytosanitary certificate. Seed is often grown in one country (country of origin) and shipped to another country (importing country). If the importing country is the final market, then there are no issues except for meeting that country's phytosanitary import requirements. However, in many cases the seed company wants to process, repackage, treat or add coatings, store and then ship that seed from the first importing country to possibly several other countries. The problem is that the seed has only been required to meet the phytosanitary requirements of the first country of importation. When a product is to be re-exported it is impossible to meet any additional import requirements beyond those of the first country of import. Countries typically will not certify for entry requirements that are not needed by the first country of import, so in these cases, the producer is out of luck for re-export.

ASTA has been addressing these issues on several fronts. First, ASTA helps companies that have consignments stopped at ports of entry. Many times the problems are administrative in nature, such as not having original copies of import permits or phytosanitary certificates; however, in most cases the problems involve issues with phytosanitary certification. Either pests of concern have not been addressed to the satisfaction of the country of importation, or, more commonly, the officials at the port of entry have found additional pest issues based on inspection, or re-sampling and testing. "These types of problems can get complicated very easily," notes Ric Dunkle, ASTA's senior director for seed health and trade. "If officials hold or reject shipments because of detections of pests of concern, we work very hard to validate their findings or seek additional options such as re-testing, re-cleaning or treatment."

ASTA has found on occasion that import requirements could not be technically justified and has worked through USDA to get these requirements lifted. The close relationship ASTA maintains with USDA agencies such as the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) and Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is critical to solve phytosanitary and related problems associated with seed movements. These agencies work with foreign governments on behalf of ASTA and its members to resolve these problems. "Our company has experienced several problems with shipments stopped at foreign ports of entry. Without ASTA's help in getting the right USDA officials involved, we would have lost thousands of dollars in lost sales alone," said Tom Moore of Enza Zaden Seeds and chairman of ASTA's Phytosanitary Committee. "Brassica seed involving Brazil has been a nagging problem for several years now," remarked Philip Brown of Alf Christianson Seed Company. "ASTA cooperated with APHIS to get the industry involved in the development of a pest risk analysis for U.S. Brassica seed to Brazil." Moore and Brown have provided information to APHIS on industry practices that could mitigate the phytosanitary concerns of Brazil. APHIS is in dialogue with Brazil to come to a final decision as soon as possible.

Second, ASTA teams up with other key national seed associations, such as the Mexican Seed Association (AMSAC) and the Canadian Seed Trade Association (CSTA), and regional associations, including the Seed Association of the Americas (SAA), the Asian Pacific Seed Association (APSA) and the International Seed Federation (ISF) to address phytosanitary issues at the international level. "We advocate a strategy to work with and through governments to get seed issues on the table," notes Andrew LaVigne, ASTA's president and CEO. "If seed associations work together to bring the same issues simultaneously to their respective governments, governments will often place higher priority on these issues." It is critical that the seed industry through its respective associations develop and maintain close working relationships and open lines of communication with the appropriate governmental officials. Building these types of relationships and addressing such issues were some of the themes at the recent SAA Congress held in Sept. 2009, in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Third, ASTA provides leadership in the development of international standards urgently needed to resolve seed phytosanitary problems. For example, ASTA was instrumental in the reconstitution of the North American Plant Protection Organization (NAPPO) Seed Panel. Dunkle is the U.S. seed industry representative on that panel. The panel's first priority is to develop a NAPPO standard on seed re-export that will facilitate re-export of seeds among the NAPPO countries (Canada, Mexico and the U.S.). ASTA also works with NAPPO and SAA to encourage NAPPO's South American counterpart, Comite de Sanidad Vegetal del Cono Sur (COSAVE), to likewise develop an equivalent seed re-export standard. Additionally, the NAPPO Seed Panel will develop standards to solve other phytosanitary problems in the areas of diagnostic testing for phytosanitary pests and pest risk assessment. ASTA has joined efforts with APHIS and other seed associations to revise the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) standards 7 and 12 dealing with phytosanitary certification to help solve some of the re-export problems. "Unfortunately, these standards will not go far enough and probably will not be considered for adoption by the IPPC until 2012 at the earliest," notes Dunkle. "We have been collaborating with APHIS to get the IPPC to develop a separate, stand-alone standard for international seed movement. It is only with such a standard will we have a level playing field worldwide for seed trade." This request will be up for adoption at the next IPPC annual meeting in Rome scheduled for March 2010.

In the meantime, in the absence of needed international standards, ASTA continues on many fronts to help member companies move seed internationally. Efforts to help resolve specific shipment issues are ongoing. Dunkle notes, "Whenever your company has a problem with a shipment, please let us know. In many cases, ASTA can intervene and get the right folks in the U.S. and abroad involved to get timely resolution." As an interim approach to addressing re-export, Dunkle has held discussions with APHIS to explore negotiating bilateral and multilateral agreements on re-export with key countries. Several countries where re-export is also an issue have expressed an interest in this approach. "If we can get one or two agreements negotiated, they will serve as models for other countries to follow and will also be useful in developing the needed standards," said Marcus McElvaine, export specialist with APHIS. ASTA will also maintain their efforts to organize and sponsor phytosanitary workshops which bring together industry and government officials to develop relationships, communicate issues and concerns and craft strategies to solve the many and varied problems. "This is an exciting time to be involved in the seed business internationally. What ASTA is providing is a way to move forward in this very challenging arena," notes Moore. "We are now beginning to make major progress."

Website: http://www.amseed.org

Published: November 18, 2009