Plant Quarantine Inspection is an important aspect of plant protection. Around the region, at various ports of entry, countries are taking a stricter approach to the importation of plants and animals, even seedlings as to avoid plant diseases and pests from entering the country and causing detrimental harm to the agriculture sector.

The International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) was developed to help protect exported and imported goods from new plant pests. It is an international treat that most nations, involved with international trade adhere to.

The Island of Anguilla has measures put in place for the importation of plants and pets. This involves permit requirements for plants/pets and a phytosanitary certificate for plants.

The Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries in Jamaica has recently put in place protocols to facilitate the cultivation and processing of psilocybin mushrooms (magic mushrooms), these mushrooms would first go through the island’s Plant Quarantine Division as any other imported plant in Jamaica.

The Government of the Bahamas also follows sanitary and phytosanitary measures according to the World Trade Organization Agreement.  It allows for countries to set their own standards on food safety, animal, and plant health standards. The regulations must be based on science.

Trinidad and Tobago has a Plant Quarantine Service which is used for pest surveillance. This protects the twin isle’s borders from invasions of diseases and pests. Permits are used at various ports of entry for inspection, anything seized is sent to the Entomology and Plant Pathology Diagnostics Laboratories for testing, which would be released upon certain conditions or destroyed.

Plant Quarantine Inspection around the region has expanded and been adapted to the agricultural practices used in the agriculture sector amongst the countries in the Region.

Sources:

https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/sps_e/spsund_e.htm

https://bit.ly/3A39HTK

http://www.gov.ai/department.php?id=5&dept=15

https://www.nrdc.org/stories/industrial-agriculture-101