Plant Import Information

Access to the Screening Program

Much of the material brought into the United States through our program is destined for conservation at one of the repositories of the National Plant Germplasm System. Germplasm may also be brought in for plant breeding or other research or commercial purposes. The PGQP is the only legal entry point into the United States for certain propagative material of prohibited genera. Our customers therefore include any person, commercial entity, state or federal government agency or university based researcher who wishes to import germplasm for any purpose. The policies that control admission to the testing program are therefore both transparent and fair to all would be customers. This is critical because our capacity for testing accessions is limited.

A strict "first come - first serve" access system is simple to implement, fair and transparent. But it does not provide any mechanism to prioritize accessions based on the possibly unique value of particular accessions for conservation or breeding purposes. This is why our admission policy could be characterized as a "flexible, first come - first served" policy.

The details of the policy are explained by following the "More" link above.

Last Modified: January 16, 2007