Hello Everyone,

For 2020, we are working on setting up an Interstate Inspection. Below is the last one we hosted and what it is about! More information will be forthcoming!

The 2018 HISSC Meeting took place September 11th & 12th and the SANC Interstate Nursery event at Greenleaf Nursery on September 13th near Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The travel days were Monday, September 10th and Friday, September 14th.

The 11th and 12th was overflowing with enlightening discussions and educational opportunities provided by speakers from the University of Arkansas Plant Pathology team, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U of A Extension team, SANC representatives, and many others.

On the 13th, we spent a full day visiting Greenleaf Nursery. We took a guided tour and discussed and explored SANC from both the point of view of the nursery as well as that of the inspector.

HISSC Interstate Inspection Goals

The goal of the Interstate Inspection is to help inspectors in the Southern region harmonize the way they currently do certification inspections in their states. We will introduce system approaches to certification by looking at critical control points, the best management practices the nursery has implemented or needs to implement to prevent plant pests from being introduced into the nursery, and mitigating the ones that do appear from time to time through surveillance and treatments.

We understand that the SANC guidelines are in an early stage of development, and will still be incomplete in June when we conduct our Interstate Inspection. With this in mind, HISSC plans to use this Interstate Inspection opportunity to model the current SANC guidelines with the full participation of a progressive grower. This will provide timely feedback from both inspectors and industry.

Expected results include an evaluation of:

* Adaptability of the guidelines to a specific nursery operation's crop species, geographic and shipping profile.

*Clarity of the guidelines for growers and inspectors. Are the guidelines specific enough to allow for a clear path to evaluation?

*Individual modules for boxwood blight, imported fire ant, light brown apple moth

*Documentation requirements for audit inspections. Types of documentation needed, and the extent of that documentation.

* Areas in the SANC guidelines needing further refinement before SANC is piloted in each region. Each component will benefit from being field-tested by inspectors, growers, and supervisors.

* Compare and contrast with current certification system.