Which authority controls an agricultural movement, and which official system decides what applies to it.
What an official system requires for a particular consignment depends on the commodity, its origin, the pest status of the production area, the intended use and any treatment applied. Australia’s BICON, Canada’s AIRS and the United States’ PExD are decision trees for exactly that reason: they ask a series of questions because the answer genuinely depends on them.
So this page does not answer for them. It names the system that decides, the authority that operates it, and — for each — the conditions that system resolves and AgricultureID deliberately does not. A flattened rule would lose the conditions that decide whether it is true, and a reader acting on the flattened version can have a consignment refused, or skip a requirement that did apply.
For how much of a commodity actually moved, see trade statistics. That is a different question with a different source.
Jurisdictions
7
Official systems named
8
Conditions left to them
32
Rules stated flatly
0
Every record here points at a system rather than stating a rule. None of the conditions examined for this wave was unconditional, and a record that stated one would have to carry the operative text making it so.
Australia
Import conditions for biosecurity-regulated goods entering Australia
importconditional
Australia decides import conditions case by case through BICON, which asks what the goods are, where they come from, how they were treated and what they will be used for before it answers. Whether an import permit is needed is one of the things it decides.
What the official system decides, and this page does not
the commodity and its form, which BICON identifies through its own case structure
the country and often the production area of origin
the intended end use, which can change the conditions entirely
any treatment applied before export
whether an import permit is required at all for the particular case
Import permitNational biosecurity or plant/animal health legislation
BICON refuses automated clients. It was verified in a real browser on 2026-08-27; no answer it gives is reproduced here.
No national Australian agricultural authority is recorded in this corpus yet, so this requirement names the system without naming an authority record.
Verified 2026-08-27 · Biosecurity Import Conditions system (BICON)
Canada
Import requirements for food, plants and animals entering Canada
importconditional
Canada publishes its import requirements through AIRS, keyed to the tariff classification of the goods together with their origin and intended end use. The documents, permits and inspections that apply follow from that combination.
What the official system decides, and this page does not
the Harmonized System classification of the goods, which is what AIRS is keyed to
the country of origin
the intended end use
the product form, which can change the classification and so the answer
A requirement returned for one tariff classification does not carry to another, and none is reproduced here.
Verified 2026-08-27 · Automated Import Reference System (AIRS)
European Union
Notification and official controls for agricultural consignments entering the European Union
importconditional
Consignments subject to official controls are notified in advance through TRACES, the Union’s system for recording them. Which consignments are subject, and to what, is set by Union law and applied by each Member State’s competent authority.
What the official system decides, and this page does not
whether the commodity is subject to official controls at all
the country of origin and its status under Union law
the Member State of entry and the border control post used
the certificates the consignment must be accompanied by
TRACES requires an account. The login page was verified; nothing behind it was read.
Official controls are Union law applied by national competent authorities, and this record names neither a Member State nor a commodity.
Verified 2026-08-27 · TRACES NT
Great Britain
Exporting plants and plant products from Great Britain
exportconditional
What an exporter must do depends on the destination’s requirements, which the destination sets. Government guidance sets out how to apply for the phytosanitary certificate that attests those requirements are met.
What the official system decides, and this page does not
the destination country, whose requirements decide what must be certified
the plant species or product
whether the consignment is being exported or re-exported, which changes the certificate
Official system
Published as government guidance rather than a system
Authority
Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
Document
Phytosanitary certificateInternational Plant Protection Convention, Article V; model certificate in ISPM 12
A certificate attests that the DESTINATION’s requirements are met. It is not a statement that the goods may be exported regardless of destination.
Verified 2026-08-27 · Export or move plants and plant products from Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Importing plants and plant products into Great Britain
importconditional
Great Britain publishes its plant import rules as government guidance, setting out which plants and plant products may enter, what documentation they need and what checks apply. What is required depends on the plant and where it comes from.
What the official system decides, and this page does not
the plant species or product, and its risk category under GB rules
the country of origin
whether the goods are prohibited, regulated or unregulated for that origin
the notification and inspection regime that follows from those
Official system
Published as government guidance rather than a system
Authority
Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
Document
Phytosanitary certificateInternational Plant Protection Convention, Article V; model certificate in ISPM 12
Great Britain and Northern Ireland do not have identical rules, and this record is about Great Britain.
Verified 2026-08-27 · Import plants and plant products from non-EU countries to Great Britain
Japan
Plant quarantine for plants and plant products entering Japan
importconditional
Japan’s Plant Protection Station operates import plant quarantine, publishing which articles are prohibited, which are restricted and what conditions attach to those that may enter. What applies depends on the species, the origin and the quarantine pest of concern.
What the official system decides, and this page does not
the plant species, which is what prohibitions are written against
the country or region of origin
the quarantine pest the restriction exists for
whether a treatment or an inspection in the exporting country is required
Published primarily in Japanese. Nothing from it is translated or restated here.
Verified 2026-08-27 · Plant Protection Station (植物防疫所)
Republic of Korea
Animal and plant quarantine for consignments entering the Republic of Korea
importconditional
The Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency operates both regimes. Which one applies, and what it requires, depends on what is being moved — and the two are not interchangeable.
What the official system decides, and this page does not
whether the consignment is under the animal or the plant regime
the species and product form
the country of origin and its disease or pest status
Published primarily in Korean. Nothing from it is translated or restated here.
No national Korean agricultural authority is recorded in this corpus yet, so this requirement names the system without naming an authority record.
Verified 2026-08-27 · Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency (농림축산검역본부)
United States
Importing countries’ phytosanitary requirements for plants exported from the United States
exportconditional
APHIS records what each destination requires of consignments exported from the United States, so that an inspector can certify what the destination asks. The requirements are held in the Phytosanitary Export Database, whose search requires a logon.
What the official system decides, and this page does not
the destination country, whose requirements these are
the commodity and its form
the state or production area of origin, where a destination distinguishes them
any additional declarations the destination requires on the certificate
A phytosanitary certificate attests plant health under the International Plant Protection Convention. An export health certificate attests animal health under different law, issued by a different authority, on a different form. Treating them as one document sends a reader to the wrong authority with the wrong paperwork.
Import permit
Attests that a named importer has been authorised in advance to bring a specified consignment in, usually with conditions attached.National biosecurity or plant/animal health legislation
Phytosanitary certificate
Attests that a consignment of plants or plant products meets the importing country’s phytosanitary import requirements.International Plant Protection Convention, Article V; model certificate in ISPM 12
Phytosanitary certificate for re-exportdefined, not attached to a requirement here
No record here is specific to re-export. The distinction is live — the Great Britain export record names it among the conditions the official guidance resolves — but which certificate a consignment needs depends on whether it was grown or imported, and no source examined stated that unconditionally.
Export health certificatedefined, not attached to a requirement here
None of the systems verified for this wave published an unconditional animal-health certificate requirement. The type stays because the check that refuses a phytosanitary certificate on an animal movement needs it to exist.