> I do know that packages and queens and colonies 
> shipped across state lines need a health inspection, 
> but that's usually by state inspectors, not USDA.  

> So what's a USDA Certified Package of Bees?

Obviously, these would be the ONLY bees that can produce USDA Grade A Honey.
:)

Seriously, the mis-statement most likely is about state bee health
certificates, mistakenly thinking that the USDA is involved.

USDA APHIS is required by WTO rules to accept "self-certification" of the
disease and pest-free status of bees from the from the exporter of the bees
(an innovation from the same guy who opened a chain of self-serve,
honor-system liquor stores). But even these certificates themselves would
not be from the USDA, or even on USDA forms.  

A small-scale local package producer might get an inspection report from a
state bee inspector, or send some of his bees for analysis to the Beltsville
Bee Lab, and give out copies of the results to package buyers to show that
his bees are free of diseases and pests, or at least were at the time, but
this is not going to work as the size of the package operation scales up to
include shaking bees from multiple yards, multiple operations, and multiple
counties.

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