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

(a) Unauthorized movement^* prohibited. Except as subsection (c) provides, no person^* may import^*, enter^*, export^*, or move^* a plant pest^* in interstate commerce^* unless a general or specific permit^* authorizes it and the movement follows the Secretary’s regulations to prevent introduction or spread in the United States.

(b) Process requirements. The Secretary^* must ensure that processes for developing regulations about import requests are based on sound science and are transparent and accessible.

(c) Movement authorized by regulation. (1) Permit exception. The Secretary may issue regulations allowing specified plant^* pests to be imported, entered, exported, or moved interstate^* without further restriction if a permit is unnecessary. (2) Petitions. Anyone may ask the Secretary to add or remove a plant pest from those regulations. (3) Response. The Secretary must act within a reasonable time, notify the petitioner of the final action, and base the decision on sound science.

(d) Unauthorized mailing prohibited. (1) Any letter, parcel, box, or package containing a plant pest is nonmailable, whether sealed as letter-rate mail or not. It may not knowingly be carried in the mail or delivered from a post office or by a carrier unless mailed under the Secretary’s regulations preventing spread into the United States or interstate. (2) Postal law. This subsection does not authorize opening mailed letters or other sealed matter except as postal laws and regulations allow.

(e) Regulations. Regulations under (a), (c), and (d) may require a plant pest that is imported, entered, exported, moved interstate, mailed, or delivered from a post office to—(1) have a permit issued before the movement; (2) have an inspection certificate in the Secretary’s required form from proper officials of the country or State^* it comes from; (3) be raised under post-entry^* quarantine under the Secretary’s supervision to determine whether it may contain other pests, seriously injure, damage, or cause disease in a plant or plant product^*, or be a “noxious weed^*” (this section does not define that term); and (4) undergo remedial measures the Secretary finds necessary to prevent pest spread.