319.37-8—Growing media.
(a)
Any restricted article at the time of importation or offer for importation into the United States shall be free of sand, soil, earth, and other growing media, except as provided in paragraph (b), (c), (d) or (e) of this section.
(b)
(1)
A restricted article from Canada may be imported in any growing medium, except as restricted in paragraph (b)(2) of this section.
(2)
A restricted article from Newfoundland or from that portion of the Municipality of Central Saanich in the Province of British Columbia east of the West Saanich Road may only be imported in an approved growing medium if the phytosanitary certificate accompanying it contains an additional declaration that that the plants were grown in a manner to prevent infestation by potato cyst nematodes (Globodera rostochiensis and G. pallida ).
(c)
A restricted article growing solely in agar or in other agar-like tissue culture medium may be imported established in such growing media.
(d)
Epiphytic plants (including orchid plants) established solely on tree fern slabs, coconut husks, coconut fiber, new clay pots, or new wooden baskets may be imported on such growing media. New wooden baskets must meet all applicable requirements in §§ 319.40-1 through 319.40-11.
(e)
A restricted article of any of the following groups of plants may be imported established in an approved growing medium listed in this paragraph if the restricted article meets the conditions of this paragraph and is accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the plant protection service of the country in which the restricted article was grown that declares that the restricted article meets the conditions of this paragraph:
Alstroemeria
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Footnote(s): 10 These articles are bromeliads, and if imported into Hawaii, bromeliads are subject to postentry quarantine in accordance with § 319.7-7 .
Anthurium
Artificially dwarfed (penjing) plants from the People's Republic of China of the following plant species: Buxus sinica, Ehretia microphylla, Podocarpus macrophyllus, Sageretia thea, and Serissa foetida.
Begonia
Gloxinia (=Sinningia)
Nidularium11
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Footnote(s): 11 See footnote 10.
Peperomia
Phalaenopsis spp. from Taiwan
Polypodiophyta (=Filicales) (ferns)
Rhipsalidopsis spp. from the Netherlands and Denmark
Rhododendron from Europe
Saintpaulia
Schlumbergera spp. from the Netherlands and Denmark.
(1)
Approved growing media are baked expanded clay pellets, coal cinder, coir, cork, glass wool, organic and inorganic fibers, peat, perlite, phenol formaldehyde, plastic particles, polyethylene, polymer stabilized starch, polystyrene, polyurethane, rock wool, sphagnum moss, ureaformaldehyde, stockosorb superabsorbent polymer, vermiculite, volcanic rock, or zeolite, or any combination of these media. Growing media must not have been previously used.
(2)
Articles imported under this paragraph must be grown in compliance with a written agreement for enforcement of this section signed by the plant protection service of the country where grown and Plant Protection and Quarantine, must be developed from mother stock that was inspected and found free from evidence of disease and pests by an APHIS inspector or foreign plant protection service inspector no more than 60 days prior to the time the article is established in the greenhouse (except for articles developed from seeds germinated in the greenhouse), and must be:
(i)
Grown in compliance with a written agreement between the grower and the plant protection service of the country where the article is grown, in which the grower agrees to comply with the provisions of this section and to allow inspectors, and representatives of the plant protection service of the country where the article is grown, access to the growing facility as necessary to monitor compliance with the provisions of this section;
(ii)
Grown solely in a greenhouse in which sanitary procedures adequate to exclude plant pests and diseases are always employed, including cleaning and disinfection of floors, benches and tools, and the application of measures to protect against any injurious plant diseases, injurious insect pests, and other plant pests. The greenhouse must be free from sand and soil and must have screening with openings of not more than 0.6 mm (0.2 mm for greenhouses growing Rhododendron spp.) on all vents and openings except entryways. All entryways must be equipped with automatic closing doors;
(iii)
Rooted and grown in an active state of foliar growth for at least four consecutive months immediately prior to importation into the United States, in a greenhouse unit that is used solely for articles grown in compliance with this paragraph;
(iv)
Grown from seeds germinated in the greenhouse unit; or descended from a mother plant that was grown for at least 9 months in the exporting country prior to importation into the United States of the descendent plants, provided that if the mother plant was imported into the exporting country from another country, it must be:
(A)
Grown for at least 12 months in the exporting country prior to importation of the descendent plants into the United States, or
(B)
Treated at the time of importation into the exporting country with a treatment prescribed for pests of that plant by the plant protection service of the exporting country and then grown for at least 9 months in the exporting country prior to importation of the descendent plants into the United States;
(v)
Watered only with rainwater that has been boiled or pasteurized, with clean well water, or with potable water;
(vi)
Rooted and grown in approved growing media listed in § 319.37-8(e)(1) on benches supported by legs and raised at least 46 cm above the floor;
(viii)
Inspected in the greenhouse and found free from evidence of plant pests and diseases by an APHIS inspector or an inspector of the plant protection service of the exporting country, no more than 30 days prior to the date of export to the United States;
(ix)
For Rhododendron species only, the plants must be propagated from mother plants that have been visually inspected by an APHIS inspector or an inspector of the plant protection service of the exporting country and found free of evidence of diseases caused by the following pathogens: Chrysomyxa ledi var. rhododendri, Erysiphe cruciferarum, Erysiphe rhododendri, Exobasidium vaccinnum and vaccinum var. japonicum, and Phomopsis theae;
(x)
For Rhododendron species only, the plants must be grown solely in a greenhouse equipped with automatic closing double doors of an airlock type, so that whenever one of the doors in an entryway is open the other is closed, and the plants must be introduced into the greenhouse as tissue cultures or as rootless stem cuttings from mother plants that:
(A)
Have received a pesticide dip prescribed by the plant protection service of the exporting country for mites, scale insects, and whitefly; and
(B)
Have been grown for at least the previous 6 months in a greenhouse that meets the requirements of § 319.37-8(e)(2)(ii); and
(xi)
Plants of the species Buxus sinica, Ehretia microphylla, Podocarpus macrophyllus, Sageretia thea, and Serissa foetida from the People's Republic of China must also meet the following conditions:
(A) Propagative cuttings.
The propagative materials used to produce the artificially dwarfed (penjing) plants may enter an approved greenhouse only as seeds, tissue cultures, unrooted cuttings, or rooted cuttings with no growing media. Rooted cuttings may not be established or grown in soil at any time. Rooted cuttings may be established in a greenhouse or outside the greenhouse on raised benches (46 cm in height) in pots containing only APHIS approved growing media.
(B) Inspection and treatment.
When any cuttings are introduced into the greenhouse, they must be free of growing media, inspected, and found free of plant pests and then treated with a pesticide dip approved by the Animal and Plant Quarantine Service of the People's Republic of China that will control mites, scale insects, whiteflies, thrips, and fungi. The artificially dwarfed (penjing) plants must be propagated from mother plants that have been visually inspected by an APHIS inspector or an inspector of the Animal and Plant Quarantine Service of the People's Republic of China and found free of the following pests:
(1) For Buxus sinica: Guignardia miribelii, Macrophoma ehretia, Meliola buxicola, and Puccinia buxi.
(2) For Ehretia microphylla: Macrophoma ehretia, Phakopsora ehretiae, Pseudocercosporella ehretiae, Pseudocercospora ehretiae-thyrsiflora, Uncinula ehretiae, Uredo ehretiae, and Uredo garanbiensis.
(3) For Podocarpus macrophyllus: Pestalosphaeria jinggangensis, Pestalotia diospyri, Phellinus noxius, and Sphaerella podocarpi.
(4) For Sageretia thea: Aecidium sageretiae.
(5) For Serissa foetida: Melampsora serissicola.
(C) Growing.
The artificially dwarfed (penjing) plants must be grown in an approved greenhouse for at least 6 months immediately prior to export.
(D) Additional treatments.
While in the greenhouse, plants must be treated with appropriate pesticides at least once every 10 days or as needed for three months before shipping to maintain a pest-free condition.
(f)
A restricted article of Hyacinthus spp. (hyacinth) may be imported established in unused peat, sphagnum moss, or vermiculite growing media, or in synthetic growing media or synthetic horticultural foams, i.e., plastic particles, glass wool, organic and inorganic fibers, polyurethane, polystyrene, polyethylene, phenol formaldehyde, or ureaformaldehyde:
(1)
If there is a written agreement between Plant Protection and Quarantine and the plant protection service of the country where the article is grown in which the plant protection service of the country where the article is grown agrees to implement a program in compliance with the provisions of this section;
(2)
If there is a written agreement between the grower of the article and the plant protection service of the country in which the article is grown wherein the grower agrees to comply with the provisions of this section, wherein the grower agrees to allow an inspector access to the growing facility as necessary to monitor compliance with the provisions of this section, and wherein the grower agrees to allow representatives of the plant protection service of the country in which the article is grown access to the growing facility as necessary to make determinations concerning compliance with the provisions of this section;
(3)
If: (i) Inspected immediately prior to the growing period by the plant protection service of the country in which the article is to be grown and found to be free of injurious plant diseases, injurious insect pests, and other plant pests;
(ii)
Grown throughout its growing period only in a coldroom (with temperatures not exceeding 9 °C. (48 °F.)) within an enclosed building;
(iii)
Grown only in a coldroom unit solely used for articles grown under all the criteria specified in this paragraph (f);
(iv)
Grown only in unused peat, sphagnum moss, or vermiculite growing media; or grown only in synthetic growing media or synthetic horticultural foams, i.e., plastic particles, glass wool, organic and inorganic fibers, polyurethane, polystyrene, polyethylene, phenol formaldehyde, ureaformaldehyde;
(v)
Watered only with clean rainwater that has been pasteurized, with clean well water, or with potable water;
(vii)
Grown only in a coldroom where strict sanitary procedures are always practiced, i.e., cleaning and disinfection of floors and tools and the application of measures to protect against any injurious plant diseases, injurious insect pests, and other plant pests; and
(viii)
Stored only in areas found free of sand, soil, earth, injurious plant diseases, injurious insect pests, and other plant pests;
(4)
If appropriate measures have been taken to assure that the article is to be stored, packaged, and shipped free of injurious plant diseases, injurious insect pests, and other plant pests;
(5)
If accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate of inspection containing an accurate additional declaration from the plant protection service of the country in which grown that the article meets conditions of growing, storing, and shipping in compliance with 7 CFR 319.37-8(f); and
(6)
If the accompanying phytosanitary certificate of inspection is endorsed by a Plant Protection and Quarantine inspector in the country of origin or at the time of offer for importation, representing a finding based on monitoring inspections that the conditions listed above are being met.
(g) Pest risk evaluation standards for plants established in growing media.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will conduct a pest risk assessment based on pest risk analysis guidelines established by the International Plant Protection Convention of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization in response to each request to allow the importation of additional taxa of plants in growing media. These guidelines are available upon request by writing to USDA, APHIS, PPQ, Center for Plant Health Science and Technology, Plant Epidemiology and Risk Assessment Laboratory, 1017 Main Campus Drive, Suite 2500, Raleigh, NC 27606.
(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 0579-0266)
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