7 U.S.C. § 7711 — Regulation of movement of plant pests

submitted 26 years ago by Pub. L. 106-224 to r/title-7-AGRICULTURE · 546 words · no verdicts yet

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No one may import, bring in, export, or move a plant pest across state lines without a permit and following USDA rules. The Secretary must use sound science and stay open about import rules. The Secretary can exempt some pests from the permit rule, and anyone can petition to add or remove pests from that list. Mailing plant pests illegally is also banned.

(a) Prohibition of unauthorized movement: Except as (c) allows, no one may import, bring into the country, export, or move any plant pest across state lines unless a general or specific permit authorizes it and USDA regulations are followed. These rules exist to keep plant pests out of the U.S. and stop them from spreading within it. (b) Requirements for processes: The Secretary must make sure the process for writing import rules is based on sound science and is open and easy to understand. (c) Authorization of movement without a permit: (1) The Secretary can write rules letting specific plant pests move without a permit if a permit isn't necessary. (2) Anyone can petition the Secretary to add a pest to, or remove one from, that exempt list. (3) The Secretary must act on the petition within a reasonable time, tell the petitioner the final decision, and base that decision on sound science. (d) Prohibition on mailing plant pests: (1) Any letter, parcel, box, or package with a plant pest inside cannot legally be mailed or delivered, unless it follows the Secretary's rules for preventing the spread of plant pests. (2) This does not give anyone permission to open someone else's mail -- normal postal rules about opening mail still apply. (e) Regulations: Rules carrying out subsections (a), (c), and (d) can require that any plant pest being imported, exported, moved between states, mailed, or delivered: (1) come with a permit issued beforehand; (2) come with an inspection certificate from officials of the place it's shipped from; (3) be raised under quarantine supervised by the Secretary, to check whether it (A) carries other pests, (B) could seriously harm plants or plant products, or (C) is a noxious weed; and (4) be subject to whatever remedial steps the Secretary decides are needed to stop the pest from spreading.

the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain

(a) Prohibition of unauthorized movement of plant pests

Except as provided in subsection (c), no person shall import, enter, export, or move in interstate commerce any plant pest, unless the importation, entry, exportation, or movement is authorized under general or specific permit and is in accordance with such regulations as the Secretary may issue to prevent the introduction of plant pests into the United States or the dissemination of plant pests within the United States.

(b) Requirements for processes

The Secretary shall ensure that the processes used in developing regulations under subsection (a) governing consideration of import requests are based on sound science and are transparent and accessible.

(1) Exception to permit requirement

The Secretary may issue regulations to allow the importation, entry, exportation, or movement in interstate commerce of specified plant pests without further restriction if the Secretary finds that a permit under subsection (a) is not necessary.

(2) Petition to add or remove plant pests from regulation

Any person may petition the Secretary to add a plant pest to, or remove a plant pest from, the regulations issued by the Secretary under paragraph (1).

(3) Response to petition by the Secretary

In the case of a petition submitted under paragraph (2), the Secretary shall act on the petition within a reasonable time and notify the petitioner of the final action the Secretary takes on the petition. The Secretary’s determination on the petition shall be based on sound science.

(d) Prohibition of unauthorized mailing of plant pests

(1) In general

Any letter, parcel, box, or other package containing any plant pest, whether sealed as letter-rate postal matter or not, is nonmailable and shall not knowingly be conveyed in the mail or delivered from any post office or by any mail carrier, unless the letter, parcel, box, or other package is mailed in compliance with such regulations as the Secretary may issue to prevent the dissemination of plant pests into the United States or interstate.

(2) Application of postal laws and regulations

Nothing in this subsection authorizes any person to open any mailed letter or other mailed sealed matter except in accordance with the postal laws and regulations.

(e) Regulations

Regulations issued by the Secretary to implement subsections (a), (c), and (d) may include provisions requiring that any plant pest imported, entered, to be exported, moved in interstate commerce, mailed, or delivered from any post office—

(1)

be accompanied by a permit issued by the Secretary prior to the importation, entry, exportation, movement in interstate commerce, mailing, or delivery of the plant pest;

(2)

be accompanied by a certificate of inspection issued (in a manner and form required by the Secretary) by appropriate officials of the country or State from which the plant pest is to be moved;

(3)

be raised under post-entry quarantine conditions by or under the supervision of the Secretary for the purposes of determining whether the plant pest—

(A)

may be infested with other plant pests;

(B)

may pose a significant risk of causing injury to, damage to, or disease in any plant or plant product; or

(C)

may be a noxious weed; and

(4)

be subject to remedial measures the Secretary determines to be necessary to prevent the spread of plant pests.

Source credit: (Pub. L. 106–224, title IV, § 411, June 20, 2000, 114 Stat. 440.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit

2000Enacted · Pub. L. 106-224 · 114 Stat. 440

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 106-224 on 2000-06-20.

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