Safeguarding and Safe Trade Awards

Safeguarding Award

The Safeguarding Award recognizes exceptional work in PPQ’s safeguarding mission. The basis for the award is PPQ’s safeguarding continuum, which is a wide range of activities that PPQ and our partners undertake to prevent the entry and spread of pests that threaten America’s agricultural and natural resources. 

This continuum includes offshore programs, permitting, border and port inspection, pest identification and mitigation, smuggling interdiction and trade compliance, new pest detection and response, and pest eradication and management. The award celebrates outstanding initiative and innovation, ingenuity, common sense, and efforts that go above and beyond expectations and deliver results from anywhere within the safeguarding continuum. To see the recipients of past Safeguarding Awards, visit Previous Award Winners.

If you are aware of a project or team that has exemplified PPQ’s mission and commitment to safeguarding and safe trade, please consider nominating them.

• Eligibility and Open Period
  • This year’s award will cover accomplishments from 2 timeframes: January 1^st, 2024 – September 30^th, 2024 & October 1^st, 2024 – September 30^th, 2025. Eligible nominees include employees of PPQ and our cooperators—ranging from Federal and State governments, Tribal nations, colleges and universities, nonprofit institutions, and industry. The nomination deadline for the PPQ Deputy Administrator Safeguarding Award will end October 14^th, 2025.
• Submission of Nominations
  • Award Nomination Form

Safe Trade Award

The PPQ Deputy Administrator’s Safe Trade Award recognizes exceptional work in safeguarding America’s agricultural and natural resources for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ). The basis for the award is the APHIS and PPQ Mission Statements. The award recognizes individuals or teams that contribute to international and regional plant health standards, market access facilitation, market access dispute resolution or other strategic initiatives in support of APHIS/PPQ’s mission. The award celebrates outstanding initiative and innovation; efforts that go above and beyond expectations; common sense and ingenuity; and demonstrated results that support safe trade. The PPQ Deputy Administrator will consider nominations that demonstrate the best mix of these elements. Above all, a nomination should showcase work that has risen above expectations and that is truly exceptional in promoting safe trade. To see the recipients of past Safe Trade Awards, visit the Previous Award Winners page.

If you are aware of a project or team that has exemplified PPQ’s mission and commitment to safeguarding and safe trade, please consider nominating them.

• Eligibility and Open Period
  • This year’s award will cover accomplishments from 2 timeframes: January 1^st, 2024 – September 30^th, 2024 & October 1^st, 2024 – September 30^th, 2025. Eligible nominees include employees of PPQ and our cooperators—ranging from Federal and State governments, Tribal nations, colleges and universities, nonprofit institutions, and industry. The nomination deadline for the PPQ Deputy Administrator Safe Trade Award will end October 14^th, 2025.
• Submission of Nominations
  • Award Nomination Form