Pest Management And Phytosanitary Trade Barriers

This book comprises 13 chapters discussing pest management and phytosanitary trade barriers; agricultural warfare and bioterrorism using invasive species; managing risk of pest introduction; and postharvest phytosanitary disinfestation.

Phytosanitary risk management is essential to the global economy as well as the world's ability to feed itself. This book is about understanding the fundamentals of phytosanitary risk management for trade and non-trade issues, and how to manage those risks in an effective and efficient manner that is consistent with the international regulatory framework. Its purpose is to provide the international phytosanitary community and its principal stakeholders with a strong foundation in risk management concepts and a thorough guide to best practices.

"This guide, produced by an international group of scientists, phytosanitary authorities, forest experts and industry representatives and reviewed by more than 100 specialists from 46 countries, provides easy-to-understand information on how good forest management practices and well implemented phytosanitary standards can minimize pest spread and facilitate safe trade. Specifically, it explains how the International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs) and national plant protection organization (NPPO) regulations affect the import and export of forest commodities; how relevant ISPMs can be used to prevent pest introduction and spread; and how forest-sector personnel can work together with NPPOs to contribute to the development and implementation of ISPMs and national phytosanitary regulations that help reduce pest movement while restricting trade as little as possible. The guide will be of vital interest to people involved in nursery activities, planting, managing, harvesting, manufacturing, trading and transporting forest products. It will also benefit forest policy-makers, planners, managers and educators, particularly in developing countries."--P. [4] of cover.

The Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations, culminating in the GATT Secretariat being transformed into the World Trade Organization (WTO) on 1 January 1995, has altered forever the process of quarantine policymaking by national governments. On the one hand, WTO member countries retain the right to protect the life and health of their people, plants and animals from the risks of hazards such as pests and diseases arising from the importation of goods. On the other hand, the WTO's Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (the SPS Agreement) requires that quarantine measures be determined in a manner that is transparent, consistent, scientifically based, and the least trade-restrictive. This collection resulted from an international workshop funded and organised by Biosecurity Australia, the agency of government responsible for analysing Australia's quarantine import risks and for negotiating multilateral SPS rules and less restrictive access to overseas markets for Australian produce. The workshop, which was held at the Melbourne Business School on 24-25 October 2000, brought together a distinguished group of applied economists and quarantine policy analysts whose focus involves regions as disparate as Europe, North America, Africa, Asia and New Zealand, in addition to Australia.

The rapid expansion of international trade has brought to the fore issues of conflicting national regulations in the area of plant, animal, and human health. These problems include the concern that regulations designed to protect health can also be used for protection of domestic producers against international competition. At a time when progressive tariff reform has opened up markets and facilitated trade, in part responding to consumer demands for access to a wide choice of products and services at reasonable prices, closer scrutiny of regulatory measures has become increasingly important. At the same time, there are clear differences among countries and cultures as to the types of risk citizens are willing to accept. The activities of this conference were based on the premise that risk analyses (i.e., risk assessment, management, and communication) are not exclusively the domain of the biological and natural sciences; the social sciences play a prominent role in describing how people in different contexts perceive and respond to risks. Any effort to manage sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) issues in international trade must integrate all the sciences to develop practices for risk assessment, management, and communication that recognize international diversity in culture, experience, and institutions. Uniform international standards can help, but no such norms are likely to be acceptable to all countries. Political and administrative structures also differ, causing differences in approaches and outcomes even when basic aims are compatible. Clearly there is considerable room for confusion and mistrust. The issue is how to balance the individual regulatory needs and approaches of countries with the goal of promoting freer trade. This issue arises not only for SPS standards but also in regard to regulations that affect other areas such as environmental quality, working conditions, and the exercise of intellectual property rights. This conference focused on these issues in the specific area of SPS measures. This area includes provisions to protect plant and animal health and life and, more generally, the environment, and regulations that protect humans from foodborne risks. The Society for Risk Analysis defines a risk as the potential for realization of unwanted, adverse consequences to human life, health, property, or the environment; estimation of risk is usually based on the expected value of the conditional probability of the event occurring times the consequence of the event given that it has occurred. The task of this conference and of this report was to elucidate the place of science, culture, politics, and economics in the design and implementation of SPS measures and in their international management. The goal was to explore the critical roles and the limitations of the biological and natural sciences and the social sciences, such as economics, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, and political science in the management of SPS issues and in judging whether particular SPS measures create unacceptable barriers to international trade. The conference's objective also was to consider the elements that would compose a multidisciplinary analytical framework for SPS decision making and needs for future research.

Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) (Diptera: Drosophilidae), the spotted wing drosophila (SWD), is the most important pest affecting berry crop production worldwide. The global fresh fruit trade, coupled with the ability of the larvae to hide inside the fruit undetected until after transportation, facilitate their distribution. SWD is native to Asia, but is increasingly found in other regions: occurrences have been recorded in the Americas and Europe, and Africa, and the insects have the potential to adapt and become established in Oceania. Gathering the experiences of leading scientists in the management of D. suzukii around the globe, the book addresses D. suzukii monitoring; biological, chemical and cultural control; sterile insect technique (SIT); integrated pest management (IPM), and other control methods. It also discusses the use of drones, GPS, biotechnology, telemetry and other technological tools to make the management of this pest more efficient and accurate. As such, it is a valuable resource for scientists, professionals and students.

Vertebrate invasive species are important ecologically, socially, and scientifically throughout much of the globe. However, the interdiction and options for management of invasive species are driven by localized regulation at the country or even state level and thus the management of species must be framed within that context. This book is focused around the management of invasive vertebrate species in the United States, although readers will find much of the material broadly applicable to invasive species in other regions. Vertebrate invasive species cause damage to agriculture, property, natural resources, and threaten human health and safety. However, most of these species occur in the United States resulting from human-mediated activities, often being released intentionally. For the first time, the wealth of scientific information about vertebrate invasive species in the United States is summarized and synthesized in a single volume to be easily accessible to ecologists and natural resource managers. With a focus on prominent terrestrial invasive species that have a history of policy and management and highlighting contemporary issues and management, this book consists of 18 chapters written by experts from across the United States. The first section of the book focuses on overarching policy and management topics associated with vertebrate invasive species; including biosecurity threats and risk assessment, policy and regulation, and the economics of their management. The second section provides in-depth reviews of noteworthy invasive mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles. After finishing this book, the reader should understand the complexity of managing invasive species, the unique challenges that each new species may present, and the steps forward that may decrease the impact of these species on the environment, human health, and the economy.