The Plant Protection and Quarantine 
(PPQ) program in the U.S. Department 
of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and 
Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) 
touches the lives of all Americans by 
ensuring the availability of domestic 
and imported foods in the marketplace, 
creating new trade opportunities for 
agricultural exports, and contributing 
to the health of U.S. public and 
private lands. 
2 Protecting Plant Health in a Global Envi 
PPQ takes a lead role for APHIS in plant 
health issues as specialists in the safe move- 
ment of agricultural products around the 
world. PPQ also joins with other APHIS pro- 
grams, USDA agencies, and Federal partners 
to mitigate the introductions of, and adverse 
impacts caused by, invasive species—plants 
and animals from abroad that threaten our 
ecosystems. 
PPQ’s activities can be grouped into three 
broad categories: safeguarding plant and 
animal resources from foreign pests and 
diseases, managing plant pests to protect 
plant resources, and working to enhance the 
free flow of trade by removing phytosanitary 
and technical barriers. Specific actions in 
support of these categories include animal 
and plant pest exclusion, smuggling interdic- 
tion, trade compliance, pest monitoring, risk 
analysis, and areawide pest management, 
including response to emergency situations. 
Agricultural Quarantine and 
Inspection 
PPQ’s Agricultural Quarantine and 
Inspection (AQI) program is designed to pre- 
vent the introduction of harmful plant and 
animal pests and diseases, such as noxious 
weeds, insects, plant pathogens, and para- 
sites, into the United States. These pests and 
diseases could threaten the abundance and 
variety of the U.S. food supply, damage our 
natural resources, and cost American taxpay- 
ers hundreds of millions of dollars for higher 
priced food and fiber products as well as the 
cost of control and eradication programs. 
PPQ officers and technicians inspect passen- 
ger baggage, mail, ship and airline stores or 
food supplies, and vehicles and cargo in the 
Federal Inspection Services area at U.S. ports 
of entry. In Hawaii and Puerto Rico, and in 
some Caribbean countries, passengers 
undergo predeparture inspection before leav- 
ing for the U.S. mainland. PPQ inspectors 
look for prohibited agricultural products 
