Risk Factors for Pest Interceptions in Fruit and Vegetable Imports and the Value of Systematics in Facilitating International Trade 

The expansion of international trade in commodities is beneficial in many ways, offering buyers a greater diversity of products and lowering purchase prices of familiar products. At the same time, the global movement of goods provides a pathway for the spread of non-indigenous species that cause economic and ecological harm. Systematics—the branch of biology that deals with the identification and classification of organisms and the description of their life histories—is essential for our ability to understand and manage the world’s genetic resources. This presentation will discuss recent research on the frequency of potential pest arrivals to the United States through trade in fruits and vegetables and related research on the economic value of systematics in facilitating international trade. The first uses comprehensive USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) inspection data to estimate measures of the frequency of potential pest arrivals and analyzes how these measures vary with characteristics of the imported commodities, including commodity type, origin and season. The second focuses on systematics knowledge embodied in scientists and physical reference collections housed in museums and research institutions and examines the economic value of this knowledge in reducing errors that can occur in screening imports for invasive pests.