United States Department of Agriculture

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

Trade 

Negotiations 

and Compliance
APHIS’ International Services (IS) staff

employs more than 300 Americans and hostcountry nationals in 27 foreign countries on

6 continents to safeguard U.S. plant and animal resources from foreign threats to agricultural health. IS works abroad to identify

potential threats to U.S. agriculture and

cooperates with foreign countries to initiate

management programs that benefit foreign

nations while keeping unwanted pests and

diseases from crossing U.S. borders.

In addition to protecting America’s borders,

IS works to foster the free flow of trade and

remove any sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS)

barriers impeding the exportation of U.S.

agricultural commodities. IS plays a major

role in ensuring that U.S. agricultural

exports are accessible to foreign countries

and U.S. producers have global opportunities

to market their goods. IS employees discuss

trade requirements with foreign agricultural

officials, strive to eliminate quarantine barriers for U.S. products, and explain the scientific basis for APHIS’ own import

requirements.

IS employees have the advantage of being

able to meet with foreign agricultural officials face to face to negotiate agreements and

share information that is critical to protecting existing markets and opening up new

markets for trade.

SPS Issues Management

While IS is APHIS’ representative overseas,

the agency is also hard at work on the homefront to help ensure the free flow of trade.

Plant Protection and Quarantine’s (PPQ)

Phytosanitary Issues Management (PIM)

team and Veterinary Services’ (VS) Sanitary

Issues Management (SIM) team work from

APHIS’ headquarters in Riverdale, MD, to

negotiate trade agreements. While the SIM

team concentrates on animal health issues,

the PIM team focuses on plant health issues.

These two groups serve as the lead negotiators on most SPS issues because they have

indepth knowledge of each issue.

Made up of scientists, veterinarians, pathologists, and entomologists, the SIM and PIM

teams are APHIS’ technical experts on pests

and diseases. Using scientific principles, the

SIM and PIM teams determine whether foreign agricultural commodities are safe for

import to the United States or whether they

pose too great a risk. As technical experts,

the SIM and PIM teams also make the case

for U.S. agricultural exports, explaining to

foreign officials why U.S. commodities are

safe to import. It’s this science-based information that helps determine the outcome of

negotiations with APHIS’ foreign

counterparts.

2 Trade Negotiations and Compliance

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s

(USDA) Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service (APHIS) works in 

the United States and abroad to keep

agricultural pests and diseases from

entering the country.
Because of this important role, the SIM and

PIM teams have become the bridge between

U.S. industries and foreign countries. As U.S.

industries turn to the international arena to

expand their market opportunities, the SIM

and PIM teams are responsible for ensuring

that sound scientific principles are the basis

for trade agreements and that politics does

not stand in the way of U.S. industries looking to export their agricultural commodities.

Trade Support Team

Essential to the success of the SIM and PIM

teams is the work of APHIS’ Trade Support

Team (TST). The TST is APHIS’ lead consultant on international standards and a support

unit for SIM and PIM. Working within IS,

TST personnel provide analytical and strategic guidance to help establish new markets

for U.S. exports while protecting our

Nation’s agricultural resources. The TST was

established in 1992, when the United States

was in the throes of negotiating the North

American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

and the General Agreement on Tariffs and

Trade Uruguay Round agreements, and trying to manage a growing number of SPS

issues with its trading partners.

The TST’s mission has changed little since

its creation in 1992. The program continues

to be the center for ensuring APHIS’ compliance with international trade obligations. In

addition, the TST tracks pending trade issues

and new trade policy initiatives and works to

make sure that APHIS’ concern for protecting American agriculture is fully considered

with each new trade-related endeavor. The

TST is APHIS’ primary liaison to USDA’s

Foreign Agricultural Service and the office of

the U.S. Trade Representative. This network

helps maintain a coordinated, strategic

approach to resolving SPS trade-barrier

issues and other trade policy challenges facing the agency.

The TST aims to increase the effectiveness of

APHIS’ technical trade negotiations with

other countries by assisting in resolving SPS

barrier situations, monitoring and analyzing

the implications of emerging issues for the

agency, developing strategic approaches to

resolve conflict, and assisting in direct negotiations when appropriate. When it comes to

opening new markets for U.S. goods and

resolving issues that impede trade, the TST

is another important link in the APHIS

chain.

Trade Discussions

To communicate more effectively with foreign countries, APHIS regularly sends representatives to trade discussions involving

multiple countries. Known as multilaterals,

these discussions may involve only countries

from a certain region or may include countries from all over the globe. Bilaterals are

discussions involving the United States and

only one other country. The SIM and PIM

teams, along with the help of IS and the TST,

are instrumental in planning and coordinating many of these meetings, which give

APHIS and its foreign counterparts the

opportunity to discuss trade disputes, ongoing negotiations, SPS standards, and other

issues related to trade. Often, these meetings

rejuvenate talks that have reached a stalemate or open new lines of communication to

discuss issues that cannot be worked out

over the phone.

For example, during a bilateral meeting

between the United States and South Africa

in February 2000, an agreement was reached

to allow U.S. farmers to export corn to that

nation. Negotiations had stretched out for

more than 5 years and could still be ongoing

if not for the face-to-face meeting. The South

African market is now estimated to be worth

$75 million annually for U.S. corn

producers.

Trade Negotiations and Compliance 3

IS plays a 

major role in

ensuring that 

U.S. agricultural

exports are

accessible to

foreign countries

and U.S. producers

have global

opportunities 

to market 

their goods.
Signing agreements is not the only reason

for multilateral and bilateral meetings, however. In May 2000, the United States and

Japan cosponsored a meeting of the Asia–

Pacific Economic Cooperation to discuss

trade issues related to Asia and the Pacific

region as well as alternative quarantine

treatments and postharvest handling methods. Representatives from nearly all of the 23

key Asia–Pacific economies were in

attendance.

Trade Agreements

With each trade agreement the United States

signs, new market opportunities are created

for U.S. producers. One of the most significant agreements signed in 2000 allows U.S.

producers in four States to export citrus to

China. The agreement was signed only after

Chinese agricultural inspectors spent 

2 weeks touring U.S. groves with APHIS

officials. China’s 1.3 billion people represent

a huge potential market for U.S. citrus as

well as other agricultural goods. In terms of

financial gain, industry experts estimate that

citrus exports to China could top $500 million annually once the market becomes

established.

While the Philippines represents a much

smaller market, the United States also signed

agreements with that country in 2000 to

export grapefruit, oranges, and tangerines to

the island nation. Some markets, however,

start out small but then become very lucrative over time. For example, the United

States continues to expand its agricultural

exports to Taiwan, our fourth largest market.

In 1999, the United States began exporting

fresh asparagus and Alaskan carrots to

Taiwan. Although the Taiwanese market for

asparagus and Alaskan carrots is small, overall the United States exports more than $1.8

billion worth of agricultural products to

Taiwan annually.

Citrus remains a popular export, and U.S.

grain is also in great demand worldwide.

Canada is a major importer of U.S. grain, and

Colombia is a major importer of U.S. rice.

APHIS’ goal is to increase trade opportunities for U.S. producers in all regions of the

world. While many new markets have opened

in recent years, many more opportunities

await, and it is the job of APHIS to resolve

any technical health issues associated with

the movement of agricultural commodities

both into and from the United States.

Technical Assistance

At the same time the United States is working to expand trade opportunities worldwide,

APHIS also has strategic interests to make

sure developing countries can learn from our

agricultural health programs and successes.

In March 1999, the World Trade Organization

issued a report stressing the need for

enhanced technical assistance and cooperation to developing countries, in particular

with regard to human resource development,

national capacity building, and the transfer

of technology and information, especially

through hands-on assistance. With regard to

technical assistance, developing countries

need help strengthening their plant and animal protection infrastructures, avoiding disputes, updating legislation, and planning for

emergency outbreak situations.

APHIS has traveled to foreign countries,

hosted foreign leaders, and participated in

multilateral symposiums and consortiums

designed to offer technical assistance to

developing countries. The most prominent

assistance has been in the areas of riskassessment training, biotechnology regulatory and technical training, biological

control workshops, SPS consultancies, and

funding for foreign officials’ participation in

international standards-setting meetings.

4 Trade Negotiations and Compliance

With each trade

agreement the

United States 

signs, new market

opportunities 

are created for 

U.S. producers.
APHIS has been a singular leader in providing technical assistance related to biotechnology. APHIS has delivered technical

presentations and participated in various

symposiums in Europe, Turkey, India, and

Poland and hosted delegates from foreign

countries on numerous occasions to provide

a review of U.S. biotech regulatory policy and

practices.

APHIS also provides technical assistance in

the area of disease control. In 1999, APHIS

veterinary officials traveled to Colombia to

review its national animal health infrastructure and provide recommendations. APHIS

has provided expertise on tuberculosis and

brucellosis management to numerous foreign countries and regularly addresses

nations’ management concerns about footand-mouth disease. On the plant side, APHIS

is part of the Moscamed team that is working

to prevent the spread of the Mediterranean

fruit fly from Central America.

Smuggling Interdiction and

Trade Compliance

Because foreign countries, including some

U.S. trading partners, have plant and animal

pests and diseases that could be harmful to

U.S. agriculture, APHIS is responsible for

regulating agricultural commodities brought

into the United States. In response to the

growing volume of smuggled agricultural

products, APHIS’ PPQ unit created the

Smuggling Interdiction and Trade

Compliance (SITC) Program. The SITC

Program works closely with Federal, State,

and private organizations, including several

other USDA agencies. These SITC officers

ensure compliance with U.S. agricultural

import laws.

Complementing the work of PPQ inspectors

at U.S. ports of entry, SITC officers discover

and close the pathways through which prohibited commodities enter the United States.

They also examine produce at U.S. markets

and trace the source of any smuggled produce found there. Sometimes vendors do not

even realize they are selling prohibited

items. SITC officers work with vendors to

explain Federal regulations and trace the

pathway for the illegal importation. The individual or company responsible for importing

the smuggled produce is prosecuted.

Tasked with bringing smugglers to justice,

SITC officers seize and destroy all prohibited

materials at the lawbreaker’s expense. If warranted, APHIS also pursues civil or criminal

penalties. Efforts have led to grand jury

indictments and Federal sentencing, hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines, and

seizures of prohibited agricultural products

valued at several million dollars.

Trade Negotiations and Compliance 5
Because a large volume of commodities is

being smuggled into California and Florida,

special State–Federal agricultural units have

been established in these States. PPQ teamed

with the Florida Department of Agriculture

and Consumer Services to form the Florida

Interdiction and Smuggling Team (FIST)

and with the California Department of Food

and Agriculture to form Closing the Los

Angeles Area Marketplace Pathway (CLAMP).

Both FIST and CLAMP have been successful

in reducing the amount of agricultural goods

smuggled into major international ports

located in California and Florida. In 1999,

CLAMP officers seized 407 agricultural

imports smuggled into the United States.

Officers examined all of the seized goods; 30

were found to be infested with foreign pests.

Catching smuggled goods before they make

their way into U.S. commerce is just one

more way APHIS protects U.S. agriculture

from the threat of foreign pests and diseases.

The roles and responsibilities of APHIS have

multiplied in recent years along with the

expansion of trade. While APHIS seeks to

increase trade opportunities for U.S. producers and give more food choices to U.S. consumers, the threat of foreign pests and

diseases cannot be overlooked.

Communication with foreign nations makes

it easier to protect and promote American

agriculture. Face-to-face multilateral meetings have become a vital part of trade negotiations. APHIS sends representatives to

meetings all over the world to make sure

U.S. interests are protected and sanitary and

phytosanitary standards based on science are

emphasized. It is these multilateral meetings

that will set the stage for future trade relations and policies.

For more information about APHIS

programs, visit the APHIS homepage at

http://www.aphis.usda.gov

6 Trade Negotiations and Compliance

The roles and

responsibilities 

of APHIS have

multiplied in 

recent years along

with the expansion

of trade..
The U.S. Department of Agriculture prohibits discrimination in all its

programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex,

religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, or marital or

family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons

with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of

program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact

USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720–2600 (voice and TDD).

To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil

Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW,

Washington, DC 20250–9410 or call (202) 720–5964 (voice and TDD).

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
United States

Department of

Agriculture

Animal and Plant

Health Inspection

Service

Miscellaneous 

Publication No. 1575

Issued September 2001