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50 SEEDWORLD.COM JUNE 2015 T HE U.S. SEED export business is steadily growing and its giving more seed compa- nies the opportunity to test their wares in an international market. According to the U.S. Department of Agricultures Foreign Agricultural Service the value of U.S. seed exports has steadily risen since 2008 when companies moved nearly 1.17 billion in seed across borders. That number was 1.45 billion in 2013. Thats a 24 percent increase in five years or nearly 5 percent each year. On top of that more and more countries are signing on to the International Plant Protection Convention a multilateral international agreement administered by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and recognized by the World Trade Organization as the only international standard setting body for plant health. The treaty is designed to help protect cultivated and wild plants by preventing the spread of pests and diseases through international trade. Once these inva- sive diseases and pests take hold its often impossible to rid them from a country. In 2000 there were about 80 to 90 countries involved with the treaty according to Ric Dunkle American Seed Trade Association senior director of seed health and trade. Today there are 182. The treaty is not a requirement to be involved in international seed trade. But it gives countries science-based measures to help safeguard their cultivated and wild plants. Dunkle says a major goal is to get countries on the same page in terms of phytosanitary require- ments the rules and requirements each country sets regarding disease and pests in order for a particular seed to enter the country. More countries are getting the capacity to manage phytosanitary requirements Dunkle says. As we continue to work toward agreements of phytosani- tary requirements based on science I think it will open new markets. Getting Started While the possibility of expanding markets sounds great entering them is another story. The maze of rules and requirements that must be met to move seed across a border can be daunting. And even once those are mastered there are no guarantees that any- thing will go smoothly. When youre working internationally just about anything can happen says Michael Perry a U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service APHIS senior export specialist. For a company that hasnt dipped its toe into the export business Perry recommends starting with the USDA APHIS Phytosanitary Export Database PExD System. The database contains phytosanitary require- ments of U.S.-origin commodities to foreign countries. In other words it lays out each countrys known phytosanitary requirements for additional declarations area freedom testing treatment pest lists inspections Beginners Guide to Moving Seed INTERNATIONALLY If your company is thinking about entering the export market for the first time there are several pieces of the puzzle that should be well planned out. BRIAN WALLHEIMER is a writer based in Illinois. He has bach- elors and masters degrees in journalism and has worked as a reporter in Illinois Massachusetts Connecticut and Indiana. He was most recently digital editor of the Rockford Register Star. He has also worked as a research news writer for the College of Agriculture at Purdue University.