Alexandria, Virginia, USA
September 2, 2011
Source: Newsletter of the American Seed Trade Association
By Ric Dunkle, ASTA Senior Director of Seed Health and Trade
A 2010 audit of the U.S. National Seed Health System (NSHS), an accreditation program that allows entities to perform functions in support of federal phytosanitary certification, discovered that the system is vital to the seed industry, state and federal officials depend on the system, but it does not generate enough resources on its own to perform all aspects of its mission.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the National Plant Board (NPB) conducted the NSHS's first audit and also audited many of the NSHS accredited entities. The results were reported at NPB's annual meeting in August.
The NSHS, established in 1999, is administered by the Iowa State University Seed Science Center under USDA-APHIS authority. Its mission is to administer the program, perform periodic audits of accredited entities, proficiency testing, develop testing and inspection protocols and evaluate and develop new and improved seed phytosanitary testing and inspection methods. When originally established, the vision of APHIS was for the program to eventually become self-sustaining in terms of being able to accomplish all aspects of its mission with fees collected from the accredited entities.
The NSHS plays a vital role for the seed industry by giving seed companies and seed testing laboratories the option to conduct several important activities that support state and federal officials in the issuance of phytosanitary certificates for export. Seed companies and crop improvement associations that are accredited can perform their own phytosanitary field inspections, seed sampling and seed visual inspections. Private seed analytical laboratories can perform seed testing to identify pests and pathogens of phytosanitary concern.
Field inspection and testing results are provided to the state and federal officials who then issue the phytosanitary certificates. By allowing non-governmental entities to perform these activities, phytosanitary certificates can be issued quickly and more efficiently. As state and federal budgets continue to dwindle, fewer and fewer government inspectors are available to perform the needed inspections and seed testing. During the review, some states indicated that they do not have the capacity to issue many of the needed phytosanitary certificates should the NSHS cease to exist.
One state, Texas, has already announced that it is closing its seed testing laboratories this year because of severe resource limitations.
The review team also acknowledged the importance of the NSHS in the evaluation, development and certification of new and improved seed testing and inspection methods, as well as the influence it exerts internationally. Methods certified by the NSHS are recognized internationally and used by many other countries.
This is a tremendous help in avoiding test result discrepancies between the United States and its trading partners, particularly when a trading partner re-tests a seed shipment at a port of entry. This benefit extends to the entire seed industry, not just those entities accredited by the NSHS.
The most important finding from the audit was that the NSHS does not generate enough resources on its own to perform its mission. The fees charged for accreditations are not adequate to sustain the program for a long period of time.
As a result, activities such as evaluating and developing new methods, proficiency testing and, to some degree, internal auditing suffer.
ASTA and a few seed companies periodically provide funds to help support methods development. Recently, ASTA partnered with Iowa State University to obtain grant funds from USDA's Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops (TASC) program to supplement needed research and development activities; however, new and more sustainable NSHS funding options need to be identified and explored.
Currently, there are not enough entities accredited to generate the needed resources. With only 14 entities accredited (three more are currently going through the accreditation process), the funds generated only cover the costs to administer the program. More outreach is needed to communicate the program's value and encourage more seed companies, crop improvement associations and private testing labs to participate.
One seed industry concern discussed during the presentation of the audit report is the variability among the states in phytosanitary field inspection reporting. Although the NSHS has its own guidelines for accredited entities, it has no jurisdiction over non-accredited entities such as the states. Variations in these inspection reports lead to differences in interpretation among the state and federal officials who issue (or sometimes refuse to issue) the phytosanitary certificates. The NPB acknowledged this problem and agreed to work to find a solution.
As a result of the audit, APHIS established a NSHS strategy team that will review the recommendations and determine next steps. The NSHS Policy and Program Advisory Board, which has members from the seed industry, Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies, Association of American Seed Control Officials, NPB and APHIS, is expected to be represented at future meetings and conference calls. ASTA will also be an active participant.
ASTA's Phytosanitary Committee reviewed the findings, discussed recommendations and submitted comments to the NPB. The review team coordinator who presented the findings at NPB's annual meeting assured participants that ASTA's comments will be on the table for consideration by the strategy team.
Topics
Species
