The National Bonsai Foundation announces that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved a Pilot Program under which American bonsai importers can import bonsai from Japan, China and elsewhere if the bonsai are kept for 2 years in special quarantine f
acilities approved by the state in which the importer is located. The Foundation took the lead in working with the USDA to find this alternative to the current regulations which prohibits the importation of bonsai that have not been in quarantine in the ex
porting country for 2 years before being sent to the United States. For the full story, go to www.bonsai-nbf.org/news/importation.htm.

Importers will want to also review the two Appendices hotlinked at the bottom of the noted web page:
- Appendix A: CONTAINMENT PROTOCOL FOR ARTIFICIALLY DWARFED TREE IMPORTS
- Appendix B: COMPLIANCE AGREEMENT

This sounds promising. It is great to see individuals from the US National Arboretum, the Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection and several large bonsai vendors working with NBF to craft the pilot program.

Chris... C. Cochrane, , Richmond VA USA

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