IS employees have the advantage of being 
able to meet with foreign agricultural offi- 
cials face to face to negotiate agreements and 
share information that is critical to protect- 
ing existing markets and opening up new 
markets for trade. 
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 
(USDA) Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service (APHIS) works in 
the United States and abroad to keep 
agricultural pests and diseases from 
5 SPS Issues Management 
entering the country. 2 
APHIS’ International Services (IS) staff 
employs more than 300 Americans and host- 
country nationals in 27 foreign countries on 
6 continents to safeguard U.S. plant and ani- 
mal resources from foreign threats to agri- 
cultural health. IS works abroad to identify 
potential threats to U.S. agriculture and 
cooperates with foreign countries to initiate 
management programs that benefit foreign 
nations while keeping unwanted pests and 
diseases from crossing U.S. borders. 
In addition to protecting America’s borders, 
IS works to foster the free flow of trade and 
remove any sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) 
barriers impeding the exportation of U.S. 
agricultural commodities. IS plays a major 
role in ensuring that U.S. agricultural 
exports are accessible to foreign countries 
and U.S. producers have global opportunities 
to market their goods. IS employees discuss 
trade requirements with foreign agricultural 
officials, strive to eliminate quarantine barri- 
ers for U.S. products, and explain the scien- 
tific basis for APHIS’ own import 
requirements. 
2 Trade Negotiations and Compliance 
While IS is APHIS’ representative overseas, 
the agency is also hard at work on the home- 
front to help ensure the free flow of trade. 
Plant Protection and Quarantine’s (PPQ) 
Phytosanitary Issues Management (PIM) 
team and Veterinary Services’ (VS) Sanitary 
Issues Management (SIM) team work from 
APHIS’ headquarters in Riverdale, MD, to 
negotiate trade agreements. While the SIM 
team concentrates on animal health issues, 
the PIM team focuses on plant health issues. 
These two groups serve as the lead negotia- 
tors on most SPS issues because they have 
indepth knowledge of each issue. 
Made up of scientists, veterinarians, patholo- 
gists, and entomologists, the SIM and PIM 
teams are APHIS’ technical experts on pests 
and diseases. Using scientific principles, the 
SIM and PIM teams determine whether for- 
eign agricultural commodities are safe for 
import to the United States or whether they 
pose too great a risk. As technical experts, 
the SIM and PIM teams also make the case 
for U.S. agricultural exports, explaining to 
foreign officials why U.S. commodities are 
safe to import. It’s this science-based infor- 
mation that helps determine the outcome of 
negotiations with APHIS’ foreign 
counterparts. 
