Plant quarantine is a technique of plant protection which uses legislative methods to prevent the spread of undesirable organisms. While it is normally concerned with preventing the spread of such organisms from country to country, it can also be used within a country under some circumstances to exclude organisms from smaller or larger areas, and to assist in their eradication.
Organisms are not equally amenable to the quarantine technique. Obviously it cannot be effective against those organisms which are already present and widespread within a country or area, while countries whose land borders are not reinforced by natural barriers such as high mountains, lakes or deserts, will find quarantine less effective than those that are isolated by seas or oceans. Highly mobile insects with long distance flight capability, may cross even these barriers. It is futile to prohibit produce which may carry an undesirable organism if the same organism has sufficient natural mobility to cross the boundary unaided. On the other hand many plant pests and pathogens, and many weeds, have very limited natural powers of dispersal and these can be relatively easily kept in check by proper control of the commerce which would otherwise aid their distribution.
Unlike other methods of plant protection plant quarantine is directed, not against specific organisms, but against all those organisms, known and unknown, which have not yet invaded the area covered by the quarantine. Though there are a few organisms which we can fairly confidently predict will cause serious agricultural damage if they invade a new area, there are many hundreds of others whose nature is understood so little that their significance is not recognized until they cause havoc on invading some new habitat. Consequently quarantine legislation focuses less on the organisms themselves than on the commodities whose transportation is likely to facilitate their spread. It aims to ensure that only material that is virtually free of all damaging organisms passes from one country to another.
Plant quarantine is often extended to make provision for regulating the transfer of other classes of organisms not covered by the quarantine law, in particular such beneficial organisms as bees and other pollinators, or organisms which assist in the control of weeds or plant pests. These too can act as carriers for undesirable organisms if they are not carefully selected and screened. A plant quarantine system requires:
· a Policy to make clear the intention of the system,
· Laws to give statutory authority for its implementation,(See Technical Section 1).
· an Organisation to give effect to the policy, by utilising the authority of the laws.
· a Manual of Procedures to standardise and clarify the methods employed by the organisation.
· Facilities and Techniques to enable the organisation to carry out the procedures.
POLICY is a statement of how plant pests and other organisms are to be excluded or controlled. In the final analysis it is the importer's responsibility to ensure that imported material is not accompanied by undesirable organisms, hut quarantine services can assist in various ways. One of the main ways is to provide policy guidelines covering the various categories of imports, and to insist that these guidelines are rigorously followed. Guidelines should include a statement of the types of plants and other items that are to be prohibited entry, as well as general precautions that are to be taken by importers to ensure the safe importation of other categories of plants and organisms. An essential element of policy should be that no material should be consigned to an importer unless it is believed to be already in a condition acceptable to the quarantine authorities of the importing country. The function of inspectors is to ensure that this requirement has been met. It is not their function to select acceptable material from consignments which include unacceptable material.
The decision to prohibit, restrict, or permit an item should be based solely on the known biological facts relating to its quarantine risk or significance. It should not be influenced by political or commercial (trade) considerations which are at variance with plant protection principles. There is a temptation to invoke quarantine restrictions as a means of restricting commercial competition, just as there is a temptation to relax quarantine restrictions for commercial or political gain. Such practices detract from the true function of quarantine, which is to facilitate trade while preventing the spread of undesirable organisms into new areas. It if it is desirable to restrict imports for economic or commercial reasons, this should be the concern of the Ministries of Trade or of Commerce, and should be covered by its laws. Plant quarantine must concern itself solely with controlling the entry of undesirable organisms, and it cannot function effectively if it is used as a device for conferring political or commercial favours or blocking commercial competition.
The quantities and types of plant materials allowed into an area must be limited to those that can be handled effectively by the existing plant quarantine organisation. Imports such as commercially significant nursery stocks, which require thorough inspection, testing or post-entry quarantine confinement, must not be imported in greater quantities than can be properly handled by available staff and facilities. High risk products which require specialised testing, treatment or examination before they can be safely introduced, may need to be prohibited or imported through an intermediate (foreign) quarantine facility if suitable expertise or facilities are not available in the country wishing to make the introduction.
The National PLANT QUARANTINE ORGANISATION should consist of a Policy Committee, an Inspectorate, and a Scientific support service.
The Policy Committee should consist of a senior agricultural administrator, a senior agricultural scientist, and the Superintendent of Plant Quarantine. All their decisions should be published and made available to importers, quarantine officers and other interested parties. To ensure uniformity of implementation, all policy decisions should be incorporated in the Manual of Procedures before they come into operation. All official policy should issue from the regular meetings of the Policy Committee.
The Superintendent of Quarantine is responsible for maintaining services at all ports of entry and internal quarantine points, and for placement, supervision, training, facilitation and support of Quarantine Officers, so as to prevent the unauthorised introduction and dissemination of plant pests and pathogens, and other organisms covered by the plant quarantine legislation. He is also responsible for preparation of work and training schedules, implementation of improved procedures and techniques; maintenance of staff morale and efficiency; participation in planning and procedural decisions concerning external and internal quarantine and emergency response procedures; supervision of post-entry quarantine facilities for introduction of new plant varieties and beneficial organism; maintenance of records, collections etc. necessary for the efficient operation of the service; submission of reports on the service from time to time,
The Plant Quarantine Officers will be ultimately responsible for preventing the introduction and spread of plant pests, pathogens and weeds, and for controlling the movement of other organisms covered by the plant quarantine legislation. Their duties will include:
· Inspection of conveyances and movable goods for presence of plants or other prohibited or restricted organic materials,· Examination, detention, treatment, or disposal of quarantinable materials,
· Checking the compliance of imported materials with their documentation and the law,
· Examination of plants and beneficial organisms in post-entry quarantine,
· Participating in emergency response programmes against newly introduced pests,
· Collecting and recording information and material which will contribute to the more efficient operation of the service,
· Enhancing the image of the service in the eyes of the public.
In order to make scientifically valid policy, and to make informed decisions on procedures, treatments and techniques, the Plant Quarantine Service needs close support from a competent Scientific Support Service. Whether or not this group also services other clients, plant quarantine work should have its first priority. The main purpose of the Scientific Support Service (SSS) is the accumulation of reliable information on which plant quarantine policy can be based. For this purpose it needs access to good library and database resources, and the ability to identity and evaluate any organisms which may be found in local or imported plant material.
Such an (SSS) unit would require as a minimum, a well qualified and broadly experienced entomologist, a well qualified and broadly experienced plant pathologist, with technical support for both. In larger organisations the employment of a botanist, a nematologist and a plant virologist could be justified as well. There should be adequate laboratory and glasshouse facilities, access to a modern plant health library, and to full series of the major abstracting journals in the fields of plant protection, entomology nematology, plant pathology, virology and weed science. The unit would also need occasional support from specialised taxonomic services.
Plant Quarantine enforcement is a very demanding task, often misunderstood and sometimes resented by the people to whom it is applied. It covers a great variety of circumstances and situations. It is essential, if the enforcement officers are to have confidence in carrying out their duties, and the public are to be treated justly and equitably, that quarantine operations should be carried out in accordance with established, effective and acceptable procedures. To ensure uniformity of enforcement, these procedures should be incorporated in a Manual which is adhered to by all officers.
Procedures need to be established in all the following areas:
· Application for permission to move quarantinable material,
· Granting or declining such permission,
· Importation of quarantinable material,
· Presentation of such material for inspection,
· Detention and security of such material prior to release,
· Sampling and inspection of such materials,
· Post-entry quarantine,
· Treatment of infested materials,
· Destruction of prohibited materials,
· Reshipment of prohibited materials,
· Inspection of ships,
· Inspection of aircraft,
· Inspection of road and rail conveyances,
· Inspection of cargo and cargo containers,
· Inspection of mail,
· Inspection of passengers' baggage,
· Routine inspection of ports and airports,
· Garbage disposal,
· Dealing with goods in transit,
· Prosecuting offenders.
Inspection stations should be located where quarantinable materials can be inspected with the greatest thoroughness and the least risk of pest escape. Usually this will be at a seaport, airport or border crossing, but where large amounts of material are imported in sealed cargo containers, it may be better to establish inspection stations at the centres where the containers are normally unloaded for the distribution of the contents, for example at a large city market or central cool store. The documentation for such containers can be checked at the point of entry into the country, and the container sealed for transit to the inspection station. This will obviate unloading and reloading of containers at points of entry, where conditions are often congested, and where thorough inspection is often difficult to achieve. All inspection stations must have at least the following facilities:
· A secure area where material for quarantine consideration can be held without fear of its unauthorized removal.· A secure and insect-proof area where quarantinable material can be held for inspection.
· A separate insect-proof area where clean material that has been treated or cleared for release can be held, and where any export inspections can be carried out.
· An insect-proof inspection room with sufficient clean, white, brightly-lit tables for close inspection of representative samples of quarantinable materials; a sink-bench with hot and cold running water; a bench with one or more low-power dissecting microscopes; good quality 10x hand lenses and a supply of collecting equipment including plastic bags, vials, corks, brushes, forceps, suction collectors, Tullgren funnels, Baermann runnels, alcohol, recording and reporting forms, labels etc.; a fume cupboard with exhaust fan for use in examining insecticide-coated or other toxic materials; a telephone; a refrigerator for holding plant materials, cultures, pest specimens etc.; aerosol insecticide dispensers for dealing with any escaping pests. Doors must be self-closing and insect-proof. Floors and walls should be smooth and free from cracks where insects can hide, and they should be of a light colour for easy detection of pests and for easy cleaning.
· An office, handy to the inspection room but with separate access for the public, directly from the outside so they can enter without passing through the inspection or laboratory areas. There should be space for visitors and clients as well as any clerical staff, and provision for storage of records, forms, manuals, regulations etc.
· A treatment room, with equipment for spraying, dipping, dusting or heat-treating infested or infected materials. It needs a sink with running water, a cupboard for storage of protective clothing, a locker for chemicals, spray equipment, measuring cylinders etc., and a first aid cabinet. The room should be well ventilated and easily washed down.
· An incinerator for safe and complete destruction of infested or rejected plant material, packaging etc.
· Some inspection stations will also need fumigation equipment and facilities, but for those that do not often handle materials requiring fumigation, a thoroughly secure means of transport must be available for transferring infested items to the nearest fumigation facility.
Security Requirements for Post-Entry Quarantine Facilities for Imported Beneficial Organisms, such as Teretriosoma nigrescens (TN), histerid predator of LGB
Before a facility is approved and designated for the post-entry quarantine of beneficial organisms, it should be inspected and shown to have the following attributes:
· Smooth, pale interior walls without cracks or narrow corners.· Smooth, pale floors.
· Vents, drains and air intakes covered with suitable stainless steel mesh.
· Windows sealed in their frames and permanently closed.
· Ceilings painted white.
· All light fittings, power outlets, plumbing etc., sealed where they penetrate walls, ceiling etc.
· All light fittings, power outlets, plumbing etc., sealed where they penetrate walls, ceilings etc.
· Air ducts fitted with filters.
· Drain system to special waste trap.
· Entry way through an isolatable vestibule and then through administrative area to preparation laboratory before entering insect rearing and inspection rooms. No other entry to rearing and inspection rooms. All doors to be self-closing and lockable.
· Warning sign at entrance to laboratory. Alarms on doors to laboratory and to rearing and inspection rooms.
· Access to laboratory, rearing and inspection rooms by permit holder and plant protection officials only.
· Incinerator or autoclave in laboratory.
· Blacklight trap in laboratory.
· Organisms in escape-proof cages in rearing rooms.
· Administrative and vestibule areas to have surfaces coated at two-month intervals with 2% permethrin.
· Any greenhouse space to be sealed, air-conditioned, and clad in double walled polycarbonate sheet.
· Special provision will be needed for fungi with airborne spores.
· Some relaxation of standards may be acceptable for nematodes.
Guidelines for shipment, holding and disposal of beneficial organisms.
· Ship in sturdy, escape-proof containers, clearly labelled as to contents and precautions.· On receipt of consignment all packing material is to be destroyed.
· Organisms are to be kept only in a designated facility.
· No living organisms to be removed from the designated facility without written approval of a plant protection official.
· Plant protection officials to be allowed access to the designated facility at all reasonable times and without prior notice.
· All organisms not specifically authorised for release to be destroyed before the expiry date of the permit.
· All necessary precautions must be taken to prevent escape. Any accidental escape must be reported immediately to NPQO.
