Exclusion of Exotic Forest Pests 



GOAL 



Plans and policies are developed and applied to 

 prevent additional forest pest introductions into 

 the United States. 



RATIONALE 



The best defense against exotic pests is exchision. There are 

 many potentially serious forest pests in other temperate and bore- 

 al forest ecosystems of the world that have not yet reached North 

 America. However, with increasing international commerce, the 

 potential for new introductions increases. 



The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Semce (APHIS), 

 which is responsible for enforcing Federal plant quarantine laws, 

 frequently intercepts exotic forest pests at ports of entiy. 

 However, at present, the United States is one of the few major 

 countries in the world without general quarantine regulations 

 for unprocessed wood and U.S. business concerns have recently 

 proposed importing whole logs. As a basis for APHIS quarantine 

 action, the Forest Service has completed pest risk assessments 

 for the importation of logs from Russia and New- Zealand and is 

 preparing an assessment for Chilean logs. APHIS is preparing 

 general regulations for the importation of all unprocessed wood 

 products. Although quarantine regulations and enforcement 

 against forest pests are being strengthened, the potential for new 

 introductions will always exist. 



ACTIONS 



The following actions will be taken to prevent additional intro- 

 duction of exotic pests: 



• Develop and implement with APHIS a strategy to work 

 with foreign countries to control pest out breaks around 

 areas of storage or loading of goods in international trade 

 to reduce potential for movement of exotic forest pests to 

 the United States. With APHIS, Agricultiue Canada, 

 Forestry Canada, and Sanidad Forestal (Mexico), 

 develop and implement a strategv' for ensuring that 

 commodities, ships, and containers botmd for North 

 America are not infested with exotic forest pests 

 before lea\ang the port of origin. Starting in Rtissia 

 at the ports infested by the Asian g\psy moth. Forest 

 Service, APHIS, and Canadian specialists work wdth 

 foreign countries to establish sun'ey and control 

 procedures at the point of pest origin. 



38 Strategic Goals and Actions 



