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Nursery operators press USDA for clearer quarantine rules and tariff relief on critical inputs
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Summary
Nursery witnesses described how quarantine regulations, market‑access restrictions and tariffs on essential imports (peat moss, coconut coir, burlap) increase costs and disrupt multiyear production; they asked for updated quarantine protocols, tariff exemptions and expedited IR‑4 support for pest control tools.
WASHINGTON — Nursery operators and horticulture representatives told the House Agriculture Committee that quarantine practices, certain import tariffs and shrinking crop protection tools are disrupting nursery and perennial production and requested regulatory updates and tariff relief.
Michael Fraunce, co‑owner of a nearly 50‑year family nursery in California, described the long production cycles of nursery crops — sometimes years from sowing to sale — and the industry’s reliance on imported inputs such as peat moss, coconut coir and burlap. He thanked the committee for obtaining peat moss tariff relief but asked Congress and USDA to pursue additional exemptions for inputs that cannot be sourced domestically.
Why it matters: Nurseries often produce plants that remain in production for years; constraints on movement, quarantine protocols that cut market access, or sudden rule changes can strand inventory worth many years of production. Fraunce said growers have invested in protective infrastructure but that ‘‘much of the quarantine process is out of our hands’’ and that small regulatory changes can block multiyear crops from moving to market.
Supporting details: Fraunce and others discussed a USDA controlled‑environment program intended to compensate producers when a quarantine destroys crops; witnesses noted cases where quarantine restrictions reduced market access without an official destruction order, leaving growers uncompensated. Fraunce also gave a specific example of burlap (jute) for tree baling — a critical input that is only commercially sourced internationally — and asked that unavoidable inputs be excluded from tariffs.
Discussion versus action: Members and witnesses discussed clarifying quarantine breach protocols and expanding tariff exemptions for inputs; no regulatory change or new tariff policy was adopted at the hearing. Witnesses asked for updated citrus protocols and faster IR‑4 funding for replacement crop protection tools.
Ending: Growers requested prompt USDA engagement on quarantine breach rules, expanded IR‑4 support, and narrow tariff exemptions for inputs that cannot be produced domestically.
