Today’s global marketplace means 
greater access than ever before to 
agricultural commodities from around 
the world, but it also requires greater 
vigilance to ensure that imports and 
exports comply with international 
standards for trade. 
2 Protecting Anin 
Health in a Global Environme 
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) 
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 
(APHIS) works to maintain clear rules for 
trade involving animals and animal products 
arriving in and leaving the United States. 
The international credibility of APHIS’ 
Veterinary Services (VS) unit is a key factor 
in sustaining favorable trade status for U.S. 
animal exports. 
Through its various programs, centers, and 
laboratories, VS ensures the integrity of all 
animal imports and exports, whether the 
commodity at hand is a live animal, an ani- 
mal product or byproduct, or a veterinary 
biologic. This diligence helps protect the 
United States against foreign animal diseases 
that could compromise the health and mar- 
ketability of U.S. livestock. VS also helps 
reassure our trading partners that U.S. agri- 
cultural exports comply with their animal 
and animal product health standards and 
regulations. 
Regionalization 
A major new focus in the animal health trade 
arena is the concept of regionalization. 
Under this concept, APHIS will consider the 
importation of a commodity from a specific 
region of a country even though other parts 
of that country may be affected by an animal 
disease that does not exist in the United 
States. Before any decision is made, however, 
APHIS carefully assesses the risk associated 
with the disease and the boundaries between 
disease-free and disease-affected areas of a 
country to determine the safety and feasibil- 
ity of allowing imports from a specified area. 
An example of regionalization is the U.S. 
recognition of African swine fever-free 
regions in Italy. While Italy is not completely 
free of the disease, agriculture officials there 
presented APHIS with information including 
surveillance data, which was reviewed by 
APHIS specialists. A risk assessment con- 
ducted by APHIS personnel supported the 
conclusion that Italy, except for the island of 
Sardinia, was free of African swine fever and 
can without significant risk export swine and 
pork products to the United States. 
Negotiating Agreements 
The negotiations required to establish such 
technical agreements as those needed to 
apply the concept of regionalization are 
worked out with the assistance of VS’ 
Sanitary Issues Management (SIM) staff. This 
team negotiates both import and export 
agreements that ensure the free flow of agri- 
cultural trade between the United States and 
other nations. The SIM staff has the primary 
responsibility for planning, coordinating, 
and helping to resolve animal health issues 
that impede trade. To make such agreements 
possible, SIM works to harmonize interna- 
tional standards, agency policies, and foreign 
and domestic quarantines that deal with the 
movement of animals and animal products 
and byproducts. The SIM team also makes 
science-based risk-management decisions on 
