USDA highlights plant health protection accomplishments

The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has released its 2022 Impact Report.

USDA highlights from the report include these agency accomplishments:

• Inspected and cleared 2.82 billion pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables from 19 countries before they were shipped to the U.S.
• The USDA oversaw a systems approach for the safe import of 2.04 billion pounds of avocados in Mexico.
• Expanded the export of U.S. fresh potatoes to Mexico beyond the 26-kilometer border zone, which is estimated to provide a market potential of $250 million in five years. This is an increase of $190 million from the current export value of $60 million.
• Identified 109,000 pests found during U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspections of cargo, mail and express carrier shipments and took quick action to prevent those of concern from entering the U.S.
• Issued 36,999 import permits and 11,471 regulatory guidance letters for plants and plant products and responded to over 42,230 inquiries about imports and plant health permits.
• Issued more than 656,000 federal phytosanitary certificates directly or through authorized state and county cooperators to aid the export of U.S. plants and plant products to approximately 200 trading partners.
• Produced 1.04 billion sterile Mediterranean fruit flies weekly at the El Pino sterile insect facility in Guatemala, supporting preventative release programs in California and Florida, along with population control efforts in Guatemala and Mexico.
• Fully implemented USDA's revised biotechnology regulations, which allow APHIS to regulate with greater precision and reduce regulatory burden for developers of organisms that are unlikely to pose plant pest risks, providing over $8 million in annual cost savings.