Exotic pests and diseases have long been an important concern inagriculture. The problem is becoming increasingly urgent andcomplex because agricultural trade has been liberalized worldwide,and as a consequence, the probability of spreading a disease or apest through national borders has become a real threat, not onlyfor the agricultural industry but also for human health and thenatural environment.
This edited volume's list of international contributorsreads like a Who's Who of international agriculturalresearch! This book includes ten interdisciplinary case studiesthat focus on specific pests or diseases that represent a range ofthreats to U.S. agriculture, wild lands and the urban landscape,and possible government responses to these threats. Each chaptercombines, in an original fashion, biological foundations andimplications for the public, giving powerful insights to a seriesof public policy issues of national and international relevance. Inmany instances, economic analysis of alternative policies isincluded.
Exotic pest control is discussed in a public good generalframework, and under the international regulatory laws comprised bythe Sanitary and Phytosanitary Protocol of the WTO.