# USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) > APHIS is the US Department of Agriculture agency that safeguards American agriculture and natural > resources against pests and disease, regulates animal welfare, and licenses the import, export and > interstate movement of plants, animals and their products. It operates several public digital > services. It publishes no OpenAPI, no GraphQL schema, no MCP server and no agent card. Its one > genuinely machine-readable, anonymously callable API surface is a set of 93 public ArcGIS REST > feature services operated by USDA Marketing and Regulatory Programs (MRP), the APHIS/AMS umbrella. ## Callable API surface - [USDA-MRP ArcGIS REST service directory](https://services7.arcgis.com/2C1NQ7u6M6SXoa8p/arcgis/rest/services?f=json): 93 public FeatureServer services, anonymous read, no key. This is the only APHIS surface an agent can call today. - [Federal plant quarantine boundaries](https://services7.arcgis.com/2C1NQ7u6M6SXoa8p/arcgis/rest/services/PPQ_GIS_Federal_Quarantine_Feature_Layer/FeatureServer/1/query?where=1%3D1&outFields=*&f=geojson): PPQ federal quarantine polygons with state, county, program, status and a link to the establishing regulatory document. - [Federal citrus quarantines](https://services7.arcgis.com/2C1NQ7u6M6SXoa8p/arcgis/rest/services/Federal_Citrus_Quarantine_Data/FeatureServer?f=json): five layers - Asian citrus psyllid, citrus black spot, citrus canker, citrus greening (HLB), sweet orange scab. - [Emerald ash borer federal quarantine](https://services7.arcgis.com/2C1NQ7u6M6SXoa8p/arcgis/rest/services/Federal_Emerald_Ash_Borer_Beetle_Quarantine/FeatureServer?f=json) - [HPAI livestock events](https://services7.arcgis.com/2C1NQ7u6M6SXoa8p/arcgis/rest/services/VS_HPAI_Livestock_Events_Feature_Layer/FeatureServer?f=json): Veterinary Services highly pathogenic avian influenza confirmations in cattle by state. - [New World Screwworm cases and initial detections](https://services7.arcgis.com/2C1NQ7u6M6SXoa8p/arcgis/rest/services/VS_NWS_Cases_and_Initial_Detections_for_States/FeatureServer?f=json) - [Bovine TB herds](https://services7.arcgis.com/2C1NQ7u6M6SXoa8p/arcgis/rest/services/VS_TB_Herd_Pub/FeatureServer?f=json) and [brucellosis herds](https://services7.arcgis.com/2C1NQ7u6M6SXoa8p/arcgis/rest/services/Brucellosis_Herds/FeatureServer?f=json) - [RHDV2 rabbit hemorrhagic disease county case counts](https://services7.arcgis.com/2C1NQ7u6M6SXoa8p/arcgis/rest/services/RHDV2_USCounties_CaseCount_2020_2023/FeatureServer?f=json) - [Oral rabies vaccination zones](https://services7.arcgis.com/2C1NQ7u6M6SXoa8p/arcgis/rest/services/ORV_Zones/FeatureServer?f=json): Wildlife Services ORV grids and campaign areas. ### How to call it Format is chosen with `f=` (json, geojson, pjson), not the Accept header. Filter with `where=` (SQL-92 subset), select fields with `outFields=`, page with `resultOffset` / `resultRecordCount`. Page size is capped at `maxRecordCount`: 2000 on most services, 1000 on PPQ_GIS_Federal_Quarantine_Feature_Layer and Barberry_Service; a truncated response sets `exceededTransferLimit: true`. **Errors are returned with HTTP 200.** A failure looks like `{"error":{"code":400,"message":"...","details":[...]}}` with a 200 status. Do not branch on the status code alone - inspect the body for an `error` key on every response. Use of this data is subject to the [MRP Map and Data Disclaimer](https://www.aphis.usda.gov/map-data-disclaimer). ## Human-facing applications (no API) - [APHIS eFile](https://efile.aphis.usda.gov/s/) - apply for import, interstate movement, transit and release permits; renewals, amendments, annual reports. Requires a USDA eAuthentication account. [Overview](https://www.aphis.usda.gov/efile), [help](https://www.aphis.usda.gov/efile/help), [training](https://www.aphis.usda.gov/efile/training). - [Agricultural Commodity Import Requirements (ACIR)](https://acir.aphis.usda.gov/s/) - searchable APHIS import requirements for agricultural commodities by commodity and country of origin. - [Animal Care Public Search Tool](https://aphis.my.site.com/PublicSearchTool/s/) - search Animal Welfare Act licensees, registrants and inspection reports. - [PCIT](https://pcit.aphis.usda.gov/pcit/faces/signIn.jsf) - phytosanitary certificate issuance and tracking. - [VEHCS](https://vehcs.aphis.usda.gov/vehcs/faces/login_initial.jsf) - veterinary export health certification. - [VSPS](https://vsapps.aphis.usda.gov/vsps/public/Login.do) - Veterinary Services process streamlining. - [Data visualization tools](https://www.aphis.usda.gov/data-visualization-tools) - ~37 dashboards and story maps. Human-readable only; the underlying layers are the feature services above. ## Authentication APHIS issues no API keys. The feature services need no authentication at all. Everything else sits behind [USDA eAuthentication](https://www.eauth.usda.gov/home) ([register](https://www.eauth.usda.gov/eauth/b/usda/registration), [FAQ](https://www.eauth.usda.gov/eauth/b/usda/faq)), federated into Salesforce Experience Cloud. Each of the three Salesforce hosts serves a live OpenID Connect discovery document: [eFile](https://efile.aphis.usda.gov/.well-known/openid-configuration), [ACIR](https://acir.aphis.usda.gov/.well-known/openid-configuration), [Public Search Tool](https://aphis.my.site.com/.well-known/openid-configuration). Client registration is not open to the public. ## What APHIS does not publish An agent should not go looking for these; they were probed on 2026-09-02 and are absent: OpenAPI or Swagger, GraphQL, WSDL/SOAP, gRPC/protobuf, AsyncAPI or webhooks, an MCP server, an A2A agent card, `/llms.txt`, `/.well-known/security.txt`, `/.well-known/api-catalog`, a status page, a changelog, a deprecation or versioning policy, an SLA, a client SDK in any package registry, a GitHub organization, published rate limits, and any pricing or plans (APHIS is a federal agency; the services are free, though statutory permit user fees apply to some regulatory transactions). The APHIS-specific data.gov organization (`catalog.data.gov/organization/aphis-usda-gov`) now returns 404; APHIS datasets are reachable under the department-wide [USDA organization](https://catalog.data.gov/organization/usda). ## Support - General: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/contact-us - aphis.customersupport@usda.gov, 844-820-2234 - eFile help desk: help@usda.gov, 877-944-8457, https://help.aphis.usda.gov - Website: aphisweb@usda.gov - FOIA: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/freedom-information-act - Privacy: https://www.usda.gov/privacy-policy