AHPA defends plant imports from law
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the Department of Agriculture should exempt plants imported for use in foods, drugs and cosmetics from the importation disclosure requirements in the Lacey Act, the American Herbal Products Association says in comments submitted Dec. 8. The Lacey Act is intended to prevent illegal timber trade, AHPA says, but could affect herbal imports due to language in the 2008 federal farm subsidy programs reauthorization (1"The Tan Sheet" May 19, 2008, p. 11). AHPA is concerned the act's expanded jurisdiction over plants, plant parts and plant products "will result in filing of ... unnecessary and largely redundant information for plants that are neither timber nor derived from timber," President Michael McGuffin says