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• Trade

Trade

Market opportunities for American farmers and ranchers depend on healthy agriculture and fair, consistent trade standards. As highly specialized animal and plant health experts and trained diplomats, our team plays a vital role in ensuring the free flow of agricultural trade.

What We Do

We keep export markets open for American agricultural products by working with APHIS’ operational programs—including Biotechnology Regulatory Services, Plant Protection and Quarantine, and Veterinary Services—to eliminate unjustified sanitary or phytosanitary (SPS) barriers. “SPS” barriers are concerns involving plant and animal health raised by U.S. trading partners.

Our Trade Support Team (TST), based in the United States and abroad, includes scientists, veterinarians, pathologists, and entomologists who advocate on behalf of U.S. agriculture. We build relationships with international counterparts and use scientific principles to make the case for American agricultural exports, explaining to foreign government officials why U.S. commodities are safe to import.

We partner with many other teams, organizations, and agencies in this important work. For example, TST is participating in several SPS interagency teams focused on trade negotiations with Europe and Asia.

Partner Trade Agencies and Organizations

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Traveler's Health Advisories
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
• USDA Foreign Agricultural Service
• U.S. Agency for International Development
• U.S. Department of State
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• U.S. Trade Representative
• World Organization for Animal Health