<div>Thank you Conrad, for bringing this to our attention.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I have now just had a few moments to read over some of the documents in the brief. Here is the solicitation for comments:</div>
<div> </div><font size="1" face="DejaVuSansMono"><font size="1" face="DejaVuSansMono">
<p align="left"><font color="#000066"><font size="2" face="times new roman,serif">The USDA is notifying United States </font><font size="2" face="times new roman,serif">stakeholders of planned changes to the Canada/United States Greenhouse</font></font></p>
<p align="left"><font color="#000066"><font size="2" face="times new roman,serif">Certification Program (GCP) and to solicit stakeholder input on the </font><font size="2" face="times new roman,serif">contents of an authorized plant list that will replace the</font></font></p>
<p><font color="#000066"><font size="2" face="times new roman,serif">list of plants currently excluded from the program</font>.</font></p>
<p></p></font></font>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.
<div> </div>
<div>This is going to require an uproar.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>best,</div>
<div>Gena Fleming</div>
<div><br><br></div>
<div class="gmail_quote">On 24 October 2010 02:53, Conrad Richter <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:conrad@richters.com">conrad@richters.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote style="BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; PADDING-LEFT: 1ex" class="gmail_quote">
<div text="#000000" bgcolor="#ffffff"><br><span><span><b><span>"WHITE LIST" OF AUTHORIZED PLANTS (Canada and U.S.)</span></b></span></span>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Gardeners, herbalists, commercial growers, and the gardening and herbal media are encouraged to submit comments.</p>
<p><b><font color="#cc0033">The deadline for comments is October 31, 2010.</font></b></p>
<p><b>United States</b>: Email your comments to Michael D. Ward, Senior Accreditation Projects Manager, USDA-APHIS-PPQ (<a href="mailto:michael.d.ward@aphis.usda.gov?Subject=GCP%20Comments" target="_blank">michael.d.ward@aphis.usda.gov)</a></p>
<p><b>Canada</b>: Email your comments to the CFIA (<a href="mailto:horticulture@inspection.gc.ca?Subject=comments" target="_blank">horticulture@inspection.gc.ca</a>)</p>
<p>The relevant documents, including the proposed lists of authorized genera and families, are available <a href="http://www.richters.com/newdisplay.cgi?page=Issues/documents.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><pre cols="72">
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