Aleandria, Virginia, USA
September 2, 2010

Source: ASTA Seed newsletter

A phytosanitary workshop, to be held Sept. 22-23 in Montevideo, Uruguay, will focus on the current trade environment in the Americas, what can be done to improve it and the future.
"The overall goal is to harmonize the phytosanitary import requirements, seed testing methods and phytosanitary regulatory programs throughout the Americas, which will provide a more predictable trade environment," says Ric Dunkle, ASTA senior director of seed health and trade.

The workshop, the second in a series, brings together regulatory officials and seed industry representatives from the Seed Association of the Americas member countries to work toward this overall goal, Dunkle explains.

"We know that to be successful, we need to develop an inventory of the various regulatory programs of the countries in the Americas; develop working relationships between the regulatory officials and the seed industry through the national seed associations and SAA; educate government officials on the international aspects of the seed industry including why it is so important to have harmonized regulatory programs to facilitate international seed movement; and obtain consensus and commitments to move forward with the development of bilateral and multilateral agreements and regional and international standards," he says.

For questions or information on how to get involved, contact Dunkle at rdunkle@amseed.org.
 

Website: http://www.amseed.org

Published: September 3, 2010