Letters to the Editor

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To the Editor:

For America's farmers, some of the greatest threats are the ones they never see coming.

A pest hidden in a shipment. A disease carried on imported plant material. An insect travelling unnoticed in a wooden pallet. These are unavoidable risks in a global trading system, but they are not risks farmers, businesses or taxpayers can afford to manage only after they arrive.

The evidence is all around us. Citrus greening disease has devastated Florida's citrus industry and costs growers more than $1.5 billion annually. The emerald ash borer, introduced through wood packaging, has killed hundreds of millions of trees and caused more than $10 billion in damage. The spotted lanternfly continues to spread across the United States, threatening orchards, vineyards, forests and rural economies.

As the National Plant Board marks its centennial, it also celebrates a century of leadership by state plant health officials working together to protect American agriculture from exactly these kinds of threats. Their experience reminds us of an enduring lesson … the strongest agricultural defense has always been prevention.

Once an invasive pest becomes established, the costs multiply quickly. Preventing its introduction is far more effective--and far less expensive--than trying to eradicate it after the fact.

International plant health standards may sound technical, but they are among the most practical investments countries can make to protect agriculture, strengthen supply chains and economic competitiveness.

Today, plant health underpins resilient supply chains, reliable markets, strong domestic production, and national economic security. As Washington debates how to strengthen America's resilience in an increasingly uncertain world, prevention deserves to be viewed as part of that broader economic security strategy.

Farmers understand risk better than almost anyone. Every season requires decisions designed to prevent problems before they become losses. Public policy should follow the same logic.

Protection begins long before a shipment reaches an American port--where plants and plant products are grown, packed, inspected and certified under common, science-based rules.

The International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), provides that framework. Supported by more than 180 countries, including the United States, its standards help governments identify risks, inspect shipments, certify exports, and prevent dangerous pests from spreading while enabling safe trade.

One international standard requires treatment of wood packaging before it crosses borders, dramatically reducing the spread of destructive forest pests hidden in pallets and crates. Another ensures that restrictions on agricultural trade are based on scientific risk analysis rather than politics or protectionism. Together, they strengthen biosecurity while making trade more predictable and efficient.

For American producers, science-based international standards reduce unnecessary barriers, lower compliance costs and help protect access to more than $170 billion in annual agricultural exports. They provide a common framework for safe and predictable trade while reducing the spread of harmful pests. Trade and biosecurity are not competing objectives. Good science makes both possible.

International cooperation also extends America's agricultural defenses well beyond its borders. Surveillance systems, early warning networks and stronger inspection services overseas help detect and contain threats before they ever reach an American port. A pest stopped in its country of origin is one that never threatens an American farmer.

Technology is strengthening these efforts. Electronic phytosanitary certification – the ePhyto Solution – is replacing paper-based systems around the world, improving transparency, reducing costs and allowing legitimate trade to move more efficiently without compromising biosecurity.

None of this replaces strong domestic safeguards. America will always need capable federal and state plant health agencies, modern surveillance, and rapid response when outbreaks occur. The National Plant Board's century of leadership is proof of how important those investments remain.

But domestic capability and international engagement are not competing strategies--they reinforce one another. Stronger prevention abroad means fewer risks at home. Continued American leadership also helps ensure that international standards remain grounded in science, practical experience and the interests of American producers.

The success of prevention rarely makes headlines because it is measured by the crises that never occur, the outbreak that never reaches the farm, the export market that remains open, the supply chain that keeps moving and the costs producers never have to bear.

-- Beth Bechdol

Deputy Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

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