30 DISSEMINATION OF PAEASITIC FUNGI 



since it is generally impossible to obtain a certificate in such cases. It seems 

 incredible that this could have been intended and probably plants not coming 

 from nurseries or other trade establishments, and therefore not capable of 

 carrying a certificate (since only nurseries and the like are to be inspected) are 

 meant not to be covered by the Convention at all. If this inteiprctation is 

 wrong (and the point should be made clear as sooji as possible) tlie Iudia]i 

 Customs will be confronted by a most difficult ])roblem, since it seems 

 impossible to close our frontiers to such plants, and every effort should be 

 made to get the Convention abolished and a new one set up, to which India 

 can adhere. There is little danger to be feared from the wild plants that enter 

 India from the Hinialaya and other neighbouring trans-frontier tracts, and 

 standing out may render us liable to heavy penalties from adhering States. 



There seems no need to go into the legislative and administrative measures 

 that will be required to deal at the points of entry (which must be specified) 

 with imports under the Convention. Some are laid down in the Conventiou, 

 others are matters of internal administration. There may be difficulties in 

 deciding who is to bear the cost of consignments refused admission, but such 

 questions are outside the scope of the present discussion. 



For the effect of the Convention on exports, mucli will depend on the 

 modesty of the requirements of other adhering States, The Convention lays 

 down that the lists prepared by each covmtry, of the diseases which it wants 

 to exclude, should be as limited as possible. But, since each country will 

 have a separate list, the total number of diseases which must be watched for 

 in an exporting nursery may be considerable. It will be necessary to scrutiiiise 

 the lists of the various countries with care to see that they come within tlte 

 bounds prescribed by Article 10. Even so, there may well be listed diseases 

 which are so prevalent in India that a clean certificate will be difficult to get. 

 As I have already suggested, in some cases it may be wise to attempt to get 

 other countries to withdraw a particular disease from their lists, so as to be able 

 to deal with it in a more elastic manner. Still as a general rule it will be better 

 to have the specific diseases of Indian plaiits listed by the countries we export 

 to, as they would then be bound to accept our certificates in any case in which 

 they might be correctly given. Although the Convention does not prevent an 

 adhering State from making other regulations, it does, I assume, prevent any 

 regulation wliich would nullify its provisions. Hence no adhering State could 

 well refuse admission to a properl)^ certified consignment from another adhering 

 State, since this would be to go behind the central principle on Avhich the 

 Convention was based. 



