APHIS Factsheet

Plant Protection and Quarantine January 2007

The Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection 

Service’s Plant 

Inspection Stations

Americans have grown accustomed to seeing a large 

and healthy selection of plants when they go to their 

local nursery to purchase a leafy Ficus tree or an 

exotic plant. However, most people are not aware of 

the long journey that their new plant has taken from 

its foreign home and of the careful measures the U.S. 

Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has in place to 

ensure it is free of pests and diseases. 

 Each year, plant health safeguarding specialists 

inspect a huge volume of plants that are mailed, 

carried, and shipped into this country by brokers, 

travelers, and nursery owners. In fiscal year (FY) 

2006 alone, more than 1.3 billion plants were imported 

into the United States. Such imports go through a 

series of overlapping safeguarding measures before 

entry into the United States to prevent against the 

introduction of exotic pests and diseases like the Asian 

longhorned beetle and Chrysanthemum white rust that 

can threaten U.S. agriculture and natural resources. 

 Once the commodities arrive in the United States, 

specialists with APHIS’ Plant Protection and 

Quarantine (PPQ) program perform their own 

inspections of these plants, cuttings, and seeds and 

review all associated permits and documentation to 

ensure compliance with import regulations and that 

any pest or disease risks are sufficiently mitigated. 

To assist in this effort, PPQ has established 17 plant 

inspection stations located throughout the country at 

major international airports and seaports and at major 

crossings along the U.S.-Mexican border.

 APHIS–PPQ is charged with safeguarding agricultural and natural resources from the risks associated with the entry, establishment, or spread of exotic 

plant pests, diseases, pathogens, and noxious weeds. 

This important mission is carried out through regulating the importation of plants, seeds, and other plant 

products into the United States according to international standards. At APHIS’ plant inspection stations, 

PPQ also enforces the rules and regulations that apply 

to the import and export of plant species protected by 

the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the 

Convention on International Trade in Endangered 

Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). 

 FY 2006 PPQ Inspection Statistics

 • More than 1.3 billion nonendangered plants 

 inspected;

 • More than 33 million endangered plants 

 inspected;

 • More than 1.4 million kgs of seeds inspected;

 • Intercepted more than 3,300 quarantine 

 significant pests or diseases; 

 • More than 17 million plants treated;

 • More than 15,000 kgs of seeds treated.

Plant Germplasm Inspection Station

PPQ also operates a specialized facility, known as the 

Plant Germplasm Inspection Station, in Beltsville, MD, 

as part of the National Plant Germplasm Quarantine 

Center. The facility is uniquely designed for handling 

imported plant germplasm and other valuable plant 

materials for plant breeding and research programs 

that, under most circumstances, would not be permitted into the United States. These items must enter the 

United States under what is known as a “departmental 

permit” and are sent to the inspection station in Beltsville. At the inspection station, they are examined, and 

if necessary, treated before being allowed to move to 

the approved facility identified on the departmental 

permit.

Importing Plants and Seeds

To import foreign plants and seeds, an importer must 

apply for an agricultural import permit from PPQ’s 

Permit Services and obtain a phytosanitary certificate 

from the exporting country. Phytosanitary certificates 

verify that plant quarantine officials from the exporting 

country have examined the plants for pests and diseases prior to export. The certificates also identify the 

plants by their scientific names and confirm that the 

shipment meets U.S. regulations for importation.

 U.S. importers should obtain agricultural permits 

for shipments far in advance of their transport. Import 

permits may be requested using the following contact 

information:

USDA–APHIS–PPQ

Permit Unit

 4700 River Road, Unit 133

Riverdale, MD 20737

Toll-free number: (877) 770–5990
 Importers can also apply for and receive permits 

online through a system known as ePermits. 

The ePermits system is a Web-based tool that allows 

you to apply for a permit, check its status, and view it 

on the Internet. The ePermits system, which is being 

released in multiple phases, also enables Federal 

regulatory officials to issue, track, and rapidly verify 

the validity of import permits. The system minimizes 

the time it takes to complete permit applications, 

process the data, and issue the permits. To find out 

which permits are available online, please visit 

<http://www.aphis.usda.gov/permits>. 

 When a shipment arrives at a PPQ plant inspection station, plant health safeguarding specialists collect phytosanitary certificates from the importer. Typically, inspectors examine samples taken from each 

variety of the imported plant and seed. The inspection process includes a thorough examination of the 

leaves, stems, roots, and seeds of the plant. With the 

exception of only a few specified types, plants must 

not be rooted in growing media, such as soil, because 

it could contain harmful insects, diseases, and noxious weeds. Inspectors also ensure that the plants 

are a manageable size for the inspection process.

Ways to Import Plants, Plant Products, and 

Seeds

Plants, plant products, and seeds may be imported 

into the United States either by mail, freight, or passenger baggage.

Mail Shipments:

Importers may mail plants and plant products directly 

to a plant inspection station. PPQ strongly recommends the following procedures for mailing plants:

 1. Pack the plants in sturdy boxes or crates.

 2. Indicate what is inside the package, as well 

 as its origin, by clearly marking the outside of the 

 package.

 3. Use APHIS’ green and yellow mailing label, 

 issued with the PPQ permit, to ensure proper 

 handling of the package.

 4. Include your name, address, telephone 

 number, and permit number with the package so 

 that inspectors can forward the package to you 

 after inspection.

 5. Enclose the original phytosanitary certificate 

 issued by the national plant protection service of 

 the exporting country.

Passenger Baggage:

Importers may bring in up to 12 soil-free plants and 

seeds of herbaceous plants that are not subject to 

prohibition or special requirements such as a permit, treatment, or ESA or CITES documentation. To 

import more than 12 plants, an importer must have a 

written permit and the plants must enter the United 

States at a port with a USDA plant inspection station where clearance will take place. All quantities of 

plants or seeds must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate from the exporting country unless 

the importer has been granted a USDA import permit 

exempting such documentation. 

 For importations other than the above, a customs 

broker is required—at the importer’s expense—to 

arrange for freight, cargo, or unaccompanied baggage shipments.

 For more information, please visit 

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/permits/plantproducts/

nursery.html or call toll-free at (877) 770–5990.

Discovering a Plant Pest, Disease, or Weed

When plant health safeguarding specialists discover 

a pest, disease, or noxious weed in or on an imported 

plant or seed, they ensure that an accurate identification is made as soon as possible. They refer all such 

interceptions to the appropriate technical specialists known as identifiers, who closely examine the 

samples. If an identifier determines that the detected 

organism is not harmful and poses no economic 

threat to U.S. agriculture, the plants are released to 

the importer. If an identifier determines that an organism is actionable, meaning it is a known plant pest 

and does not exist in the Unites States or it exists in 

limited distribution, the plants undergo a quarantine 

treatment, are reexported, or are destroyed. If the 

plants require fumigation treatment, the PPQ specialist releases the plants for entry into the United States 

only after the treatment is completed. 

CITES Enforcement

All 17 PPQ plant inspection stations have been 

approved by the Department of Interior to inspect 

plants, such as exotic orchids or cacti, that are protected by CITES. Signed by more than 150 countries, 

including the United States, CITES is a comprehensive international treaty that regulates the commercial 

trade of endangered species and monitors the trade 

of species that are at risk of becoming endangered. 

Since the treaty’s ratification in 1974, CITES representatives have worked tirelessly to protect the 

world’s plant and animal resources. 

 At PPQ’s plant inspection stations, every shipment containing CITES-listed plants is inspected to 

ensure that it matches the description in the accompanying CITES documents. If the importers do not 

have the proper CITES documentation, PPQ 

specialists seize the plants and offer them back to 

their country of origin at that country’s expense or 

place the plants in one of the many designated plant 

rescue centers in the United States. There they are 

grown for research, breeding, or educational 

purposes.
Help Safeguard American Agriculture from 

Pests and Diseases

Whether you are mailing a boxwood from England, 

carrying propagated orchids back from Thailand, or 

shipping a load of philodendrons from Central 

America, you must follow USDA’s procedures for 

importing plants and plant products. By following 

these procedures, you will help protect American 

agriculture from foreign plant pests and diseases.

Additional Information

For more information or to find out where APHIS’ 

plant inspection stations are located, please visit the 

APHIS Web site at

<http://www/aphis.usda.gov/ppq/permits/plantproducts/pis/html>.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, 

national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital 

status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, 

genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part 

of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance 

program. (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 to USDA, 

Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W. , 

Washington , D.C. 20250–9410 , or call (800) 795–3272 (voice) or 

(202) 720–6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and 

employer. 

United States Department of Agriculture • Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service • Safeguarding American Agriculture