California Agriculture

The presence of Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM) has resulted in a federal order that restricts the interstate movement from affected counties of several regulated articles, including specific agriculture commodities as well as their byproducts. The United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal Plant Health and Inspection Services (USDA-APHIS) is responsible for taking actions that exclude, eradicate and/or control plant pests and has classified LBAM as an actionable quarantine-significant pest. To classify a pest as actionable, its presence must have potential significant economic importance. Early last year, APHIS responded to requests to reclassify LBAM as a non-actionable pest. The National Research Council reviewed the APHIS response in a report released September 2009 and found that APHIS was within its authority to classify LBAM as actionable; however, it suggested the agency re-focus on the question of why this pest is important to the US and to base their response on a detailed economic analysis and a clear justification of their choice of regulatory actions.