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It is suggested that in order to plcxo the iniportation of plants 
from foreign countries and the quarantine governing the inportation of 
such plants on a sound, scientific, fully defensible basis, the Congress 
of the United States should declare a policy. It should say it is the 
policy of the United States that in order to safeguard agriculture in 
the United States by preventing introduction into or th- spread within 
the United States of plant pests which exist in other countries which 
may be known or untooiwn, detectable or undetectable by inspection, and 
vfhich raay be carried by plants rjid plant products of such other countries 
v,rhen offered for importation into the United States, that plants and 
plant products capable of propagation offered for importation from any 
foreign country shall not be imported except for propagation under 
surveillance of the Secretary of Agriculture for such time and under such 
conditions as the said Secretary may prescribe in order thr.t he may be 
able to determine by inspection or otJ'erwisc v/hether such plants rjid plant 
products are apparently fro., from plant pests. The term "plcait pests" 
should include tuiy stage of development of insect, nematode or other 
invertebrate animal, or ajiy virus, or any bacteria, fungi, or other 
parasitical plant which can injure or cause plant disease in plants or 
parts thereof, and restrictions should apply to the organisms as such. 
Many of the very pests v/hi ch existing quarrjitinos seek to exclude 
in or on imported plants and plant products could end still cm enter as 
such divorced from their hosts, since there is no authority to exclude or 
regulate their entry. Obviously, the door should not be left open for 
their unrestricted entry and it is highly desirable that authority be 
secured to control and prevent the entry of plrjit pathogenes along lines 
recomjnended in the resolutions passed at the annual meeting of the 
American Phytopatho logical Society hold in St. Louis in December, 1935* 
Authority should be continued for the exclusion of plrjits rjid plant pathogenc 
known to be dcjigerous to the United States in their ability to introduce 
pests, and the provision for such exclusion should apply not only to plants 
and plrjit products but to any othv.r article or matter v/hich might be 
considered likely to introduce pests, end such articles or matter should 
be understood to include any other substrncc whatsoever which the 
Secretary ofi Agricult\ire might frori time to time determine and declare as 
likely to be a modiuin through v/hich plant pests might bo introduced from 
foreign countries into the United States. Such procedure would have a 
sound, scientific, coiinmon- sense basis; it v/ould recognize the need for 
definitely excluding plants or articles which may carry known pests; it 
would provide for growing under such surveillarice as wov;ld be necessary 
plants not knov/n to be drjigerous but in recognition of the principle that 
all plcjits may bo dangerous through the possible presence of unknown or 
undetectable pests, would enable sufficient inspection to develop this 
information in the case of each sldpment before final release to the 
country; it would automatically eliminate the limit difficulties which 
noAV exist because there would be no reason for someone to bring in moro 
than was wanted for propagation purposes; it would tal-co the Department 
out of the economic determinations which are constantly before it; 
„,«"S^''»°*» 
