> There have been some rather inflammatory (imho) 
> comments and publications about the lack of 
> complete certification of Australian hives...

> But, I've ordered packages of bees from Texas and 
> California and have received no certification of 
> 'cleanliness' from either of those places.  
> Is *any* certification required for shipping within 
> the US?  

Yes.  The certifications are made to your state Apiarist
(or Ag Department) as a result of specific inspections 
and tests done by the State Apiarist staff in the
source state within a narrow timeframe window prior 
to shipping bees.  If you request a copy of the documents,
the supplier will send them along to you.

> Is it as stringent as is being requested from other countries? 

Much more stringent.
See this article from 2005 for the details on how WTO rules 
not only lowered the bar far below any interstate requirements, 
but also had several unexpected consequences:
http://bee-quick.com/reprints/regs.pdf

> So, why are we demanding such stringent certifications on 
> imports from other countries?

We are unable to even ask for better "certification" under
the WTO rules, so the only move we have on the board is to
do our own inspections and sampling/testing at port-of entry.
(Of course the exporters could get a clue, and start 
testing and providing more useful "certification" on
their own, but implying that anyone might do this would
be accusing them of (gasp!) marketing.

But read the article, and ask a queen producer about 
the confusing maze of different picky state requirements 
for the shipment of bees into that state from any other state.

Then compare and contrast to the very short list of
claims made on an export document, and the distinct
lack of anything that might look like a lab report.

Perhaps you will gain the facts to change your 
characterization of the simple suggestion that 
some sort of inspections and sampling would be 
better than the none we have now.

Maybe it won't seem so "inflammatory" to you.

******************************************************
* Full guidelines for BEE-L posting are at:          *
* http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm  *
******************************************************