On September 26th, the National Environmental Coalition on Invasive Species (NECIS) submitted recommendations to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) on an important new rule as part of the regulations that govern the importation of plants.
NECIS has worked for years to strengthen federal screening of horticultural imports. In 2011 USDA APHIS completed a new rule that created a category listing plants that are “Not Authorized Pending Pest Risk Assessment” (NAPPRA). This category allows APHIS to better protect the country from plant invaders while minimizing adverse impacts. NECIS prepared comments to APHIS on the first list of species to be considered for NAPPRA listing. Click the link below to view those comments.