Box Tree Moth - Compliance Agreement
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After the 2023 National Plant Board Safeguarding Meeting in Cincinnati, Ohio, the National Plant Board and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) began working together to address interstate and intrastate movement of boxwoods and quarantine compliance. The two organizations established a task force to develop a regulatory framework aimed to prevent the spread of the box tree moth in the nursery production pathway. The task force developed a compliance agreement template, which State Plant Regulatory Officials can implement and administer in their own state. On May 23, the Federal Order issued for box tree moth recognized the compliance agreement as the necessary mechanism to comply with the requirements of the quarantine, which allows for the movement of Buxus spp. out of quarantined areas. The compliance agreement requires a producer to implement an integrated, systems approach to surveying for, and treating, the box tree moth in production systems and to only ship Buxus spp. if they are free from the box tree moth. Participation in the compliance agreement program will allow nurseries to ship Buxus spp. out of quarantined areas, but only if all requirements are met and verified by the State Plant Regulatory Official in their respective state. States may find the template on this page along with other resources related to the box tree moth regulatory framework, including the compliance agreement.
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"NPB members and USDA-APHIS-PPQ staff (Box Tree Moth Task Force – Aka. The Ocelots) met in Raleigh, NC in December 2023 to develop the regulatory framework and compliance agreement template. From left to right: In person – Daniel Kenny (NPB), Victoria Smith (NPB), David Gianino (NPB), Keith Colpetzer (PPQ), Ignacio Baez (PPQ), Allen Proxmire (PPQ). Virtual – Russ Bulluck (PPQ), Chris Benemann (NPB).”
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