[MPWG] Fwd:

[Gena Fleming]

Thank you Conrad, for bringing this to our attention.

I have now just had a few moments to read over some of the documents in the
brief.  Here is the solicitation for comments:


The USDA is notifying United States stakeholders of planned changes to the
Canada/United States Greenhouse

Certification Program (GCP) and to solicit stakeholder input on the contents
of an authorized plant list that will replace the

list of plants currently excluded from the program.

It sounds like the decision to have a white list is already in place.  THe
solicitation is only for comments about the content of the white list, not
its existence.

This is going to require an uproar.

best,
Gena Fleming


On 24 October 2010 02:53, Conrad Richter <conrad at richters.com> wrote:

>
> *"WHITE LIST" OF AUTHORIZED PLANTS (Canada and U.S.)*
>
> The U.S. and Canadian governments are planning to introduce a "white list"
> of plants that are allowed entry into each country under a joint Canada-USA
> greenhouse certification program. The United States Department of
> Agriculture (USDA) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) are
> requesting comments from stakeholders on a proposal to replace the current
> list of prohibited plants with this new list of allowed plants. What this
> means is that if a plant is not on the allowed list it cannot enter the U.S.
> from Canada or vice versa. Many thousands of plants including many herbs
> will be barred entry under the proposal.
>
> This change is highly significant for both countries because it appears to
> be a first attempt to implement a controversal "white list" approach to the
> control of cross-border plant movement. The proposed "white list" is far
> more restrictive than the current "black list" of prohibited plants that has
> been in place since the inception of the binational Greenhouse Certification
> Program in 1996. The proposed "white list" of allowed plants includes less
> than 1000 plant genera, out of over 12,600 genera of flowering plants known
> to man. The current "black list" of prohibited plants has fewer than 100
> genera.
>
> Some suggest that the powerful anti-invasives movement in the U.S. is
> behind the push to introduce "white lists" of plants that are allowed into
> the country. While invasives are a problem for both countries, the new list
> will affect thousands of plants already in the horticultural trade, and will
> limit the introduction of new plants to gardeners.
>
> For gardeners, it is worth reflecting a moment on how many new plants that
> you have enjoyed growing over the past 10-20 years, and how many of them
> might not have been available to you had this "white list" been in place.
>
> Gardeners, herbalists, commercial growers, and the gardening and herbal
> media are encouraged to submit comments.
>
> *The deadline for comments is October 31, 2010.*
>
> *United States*: Email your comments to Michael D. Ward, Senior
> Accreditation Projects Manager, USDA-APHIS-PPQ (
> michael.d.ward at aphis.usda.gov)<michael.d.ward at aphis.usda.gov?Subject=GCP%20Comments>
>
> *Canada*: Email your comments to the CFIA (horticulture at inspection.gc.ca<horticulture at inspection.gc.ca?Subject=comments>
> )
>
> The relevant documents, including the proposed lists of authorized genera
> and families, are available here<http://www.richters.com/newdisplay.cgi?page=Issues/documents.html>
> .
>
> --
> \_\  RICHTERS HERBS
> / /  Goodwood, ON, L0C 1A0, Canada
> \_\  Tel +1.905.640.6677  Fax +1.905.640.6641
> /_/  http://www.richters.com
>
>
>
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