About Plant Protection and Quarantine

Last Modified: July 31, 2024

APHIS' Plant Protection and Quarantine program forms America’s first line of defense against the introduction and spread of invasive pests. Our team of more than 3,000 employees has expertise in a wide range of fields, from botany and virology to data analysis, economics, and much more.

Throughout the United States and abroad, we safeguard U.S. agriculture and natural resources against the entry, establishment, and spread of economically and environmentally significant pests and facilitate the safe trade of agricultural products. We collaborate with many partners, cooperators, and stakeholders to carry out this mission. Below are two of our most crucial partnerships:

Customs and Border Protection

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection enforces APHIS regulations at ports of entry. See our Memorandum of Agreement.

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Customs and Border Protection officer inspects wood pallets.
National Plant Board

PPQ and the National Plant Board work together to use our respective Federal and State authorities, assets, and expertise to safeguard plant health and enable safe trade. The Strategic Alliance documents the nature of this relationship and our top priorities.

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California Department of Agriculture employee inspects grapes for pests.

Globally, PPQ represents the United States at the International Plant Protection Convention, where we work with more than 180 other countries to develop science-based international standards. Through the North American Plant Protection Organization, we also collaborate with Canada and Mexico to create regional standards that keep invasive plant pests out of North America.

PPQ Deputy Administrator’s Safeguarding Award and Safe Trade Award

The PPQ Deputy Administrator's Safeguarding Award and Safe Trade Award recognize outstanding initiatives and innovations that protect American agriculture and plant resources.

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hands holding a plant

Accomplishments

All along the safeguarding continuum (103.27 KB), PPQ experts assess risks associated with pests that hitchhike on and in the agricultural products we import. We take action at the right time and in the right place to safeguard U.S. agriculture and natural resources, while keeping international trade and travel moving. Take a look at our work from 2023 (290.26 KB):

Around the World

We fought pests offshore before they could reach the United States and helped U.S. agriculture thrive in the global marketplace.

  • Inspected and cleared 3.21 billion pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables from 20 countries before they were shipped to the United States and oversaw a systems approach for the safe import of 2.96 billion pounds of avocados in Mexico
  • Conducted technical negotiations to open, maintain, and expand export markets; and facilitated the release of held shipments—an added value of approximately $459.3 million
  • Certified or recertified 200 treatment facilities, including 81 facilities in Mexico, 10 facilities in Central America, 3 facilities in the Caribbean, 112 facilities in South America, and 4 facilities in Asia
  • Processed 1.5 million Lacey Act declarations, helping to combat illegal trade of protected plant species

Learn more in our program reports:

APHIS inspector onsite in a mango orchard in Peru
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At the Border

We kept potentially damaging plant pests out of the country.

  • Cleared 27,235 shipments containing over 1.87 billion plant units and 670,811 kilograms of seeds, intercepting 2,176 quarantine pests at plant inspection stations
  • Identified approximately 92,000 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 United States
  • Facilitated entry of regulated agricultural cargo through the monitoring of 15,310 fumigations, 40,161 cold treatments, 6,483 irradiation certifications, and 164 heat treatments of niger seed
  • Intercepted over 250,000 prohibited agricultural products and 2,000 quarantine pests during baggage inspections of approximately 15.9 million passengers bound for the U.S. mainland from Hawaii and Puerto Rico

Learn more in our program reports:

a USDA worker investigating inside of a truck
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Across the Nation

We fought back against the spread of invasive plant pests that threatened our Nation’s crops and forests.

  • Removed nearly 64,000 acres from Karnal bunt-regulated areas on Tribal and non-Tribal lands in Arizona
  • Conducted 222 plant pest surveys with cooperators in 50 States and 4 Territories and coordinated the response to approximately 45 pests detected in 2023 and prior years
  • Provided a total of $9,897,671 million for projects in California, Florida and Texas that help give citrus growers proven, science-based strategies to combat citrus greening
  • Issued more than 591,000 Federal phytosanitary (plant health) 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

Learn more in our program reports:

Close up of an adult emerald ash borer on bark of a tree; beetle is bright, metallic green, measures about one-half inch long and has a flattened back.

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