Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Hawaii Pacific CESU

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The Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center (PIERC) is offering a funding opportunity for credible economic analysis of quarantine options available to Hawaii Department of Agriculture’s Plant Quarantine Branch to prevent or to reduce the chances of arrival of new strains of the neotropical rust of Myrtaceae, Puccinia psidii. The analysis must quantify the costs and benefits (for society and for businesses) of the sale of imported plants, flowers and foliage in the myrtle family in the Hawaiian Islands and the relative advantages and disadvantages of implementing either a traditional quarantine policy or a full ban on imported Myrtaceae. In August 20007, Hawaii’s Board of Agriculture recognized the threat to Hawaii’s one million acres of ohia forests and to Hawaii’s watersheds and unique biodiversity. The Board had the authority for and approved a 12-month interim rule banning importation of plants in the myrtle family from “infested areas,” specified as South America, Florida, and California. However, the interim rule has not been made permanent by Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA). HDOA enforced the interim rule over its life span but the interim rule expired in August 2008. HDOA now simply inspects Myrtaceae imports visually for pests. Whenever a new permanent regulation is initiated by HDOA, an economic assessment of impacts of regulation on small businesses is required. This study should meet that need as well as to help guide what level regulation is most desirable. The relative costs and benefits of a preventative myrtle family ban vs. a standard agricultural quarantine have yet to be explored. It will be the purpose of this research project to quantify more accurately the costs and benefits of the sale of imported plants, flowers and foliage in the myrtle family in the Hawaiian Islands and the relative advantages and disadvantages of implementing either a quarantine policy or a full ban on imported Myrtaceae.This project will have a very specific single primary objective relating to quarantine protection from the rust fungus Puccinia psidii: to examine the economic costs and benefits of three potential policies 1. Business as Usual (No Trade Restrictions)2. Quarantine of Imported Myrtaceae3. Ban of Imported MyrtaceaeIn order to meet this primary objective, several subsidiary objectives must also be met. Specifically, to:Quantify the Hawaiian market for imported MyrtaceaeUnderstand quarantine procedures and their impact on tradeImpute the value of ohia forestsGenerate Cost-Benefit analysis for each policy

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