Both the Massachusetts Flower Growers Association and the Connecticut
Florists Association have written to the USDA asking the agency to remove
Chrysanthemum White Rusts (CWR) quarantine status.
Each year the quarantine in place presents circumstances by which our growers
and retail members face a large financial risk to their businesses, wrote the
Massachusetts growers, as they called for immediate action. Their letter
continued: We believe the change to a Regulated Non-Quarantine Pest status for
CWR would be of benefit to our industry.
In the Connecticut Florists letter to the USDA, it argued that as CWR outbreaks
become more common and routine, the purpose of federal regulations for this
pathogen becomes more unjustifiable and the costs of enforcement and compliance
just keep adding up.
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