I3O LEGISLATION AGAINST PLANT DISEASES AND PESTS 



and this will only be issued when a certificate as to free- 

 dom from disease given by the competent authority at 

 the place of exportation is produced. New Zealand, 

 though scarcely a tropical country at all, and the United 

 States, only part of which is tropical, also require a 

 Government certificate before admission. 



The certificates demanded in each case relate to the 

 general health of the plants, and no attempt is made to 

 define what the pests are for which examination should 

 be made. Two countries, however Australia and New 

 Zealand have given a clue as to the diseases " against 

 which they wish to be protected " by publishing a list of 

 the diseases which have been scheduled as affecting 

 plants. In both cases the list is long and comprehensive, 

 and in Australia it includes Mucor and Penicillium, so 

 that the task of the inspector in that country must be a 

 difficult one. 



It is not pretended that this description is exhaustive, 

 and no doubt many countries have modifications of the 

 regulations described above which affect importation in 

 other ways. Much also depends on the way the laws are 

 administered. It is believed, however, that there are no 

 regulations which cannot be classified under one of these 

 categories. If, therefore, they are compared with the 

 regulations contemplated by the Rome Convention certain 

 points attract attention at once : 



(1) Most of the plants which are the subject of the 

 restrictions tea, coffee, rubber, cotton, etc. are pro- 

 ducts of general consumption which have no exact 

 analogy in temperate agriculture. It is possible, there- 

 fore, that a special article must be introduced to regulate 

 the trade in these commodities, or they might even be 

 excluded from the Convention altogether. On the other 

 hand, the Rome Convention is avowedly only a beginning, 

 and as the phytopathological services of each country 

 improve fuller responsibilities will be undertaken, and the 

 list of exempted plants restricted. 



(2) With hardly any exception the method adopted 

 ir> tropical countries against the introduction of disease 

 contemplates preventive measures at the frontier of the 

 country of destination, while the scheme underlying the 



