APHIS Removes Zone AA from the Giant African Snail (Lissachatina fulica, formally Achatina fulica) List of Regulated Areas

The following Stakeholder Message was published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service on March 4, 2021. It is reproduced in full below.

To: State and Territory Agricultural Regulatory OfficialsEffective December 8, 2020, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) removed giant African land snail (GAS) regulated area, Zone AA, from the list of quarantine areas in Miami-Dade County, Florida. APHIS and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) collaborated to develop the protocol for removing areas from quarantine. Under the protocol, APHIS and FDACS require an area/zone to meet the following criteria to remove it from quarantine:APHIS determined that Zone AA meets the criteria for removal from quarantine.APHIS and FDACS continue to evaluate the remaining GAS-infested areas to determine whether they meet the protocol criteria. The revised map and descriptions of the areas regulated for GAS are posted on the APHIS website at:https://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant-health/gas-quarantine

For further information regarding the GAS program, please contact the National Operations Manager, Melinda Sullivan, at 970-494-7580.

/s/Dr. Osama El-Lissy

Deputy Administrator

Plant Protection and Quarantine

Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service