7 U.S.C. § 7712 — Regulation of movement of plants, plant

Page 2086 TITLE 7—AGRICULTURE § 7712 (a) governing consideration of import requests are based on sound science and are transparent and accessible. (c) Authorization of movement of plant pests by regulation (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 deter- mination 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 non- mailable 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 imple- ment subsections (a), (c), and (d) may include provisions requiring that any plant pest im- ported, entered, to be exported, moved in inter- state commerce, mailed, or delivered from any post office— (1) be accompanied by a permit issued by the Secretary prior to the importation, entry, ex- portation, movement in interstate commerce, mailing, or delivery of the plant pest; (2) be accompanied by a certificate of inspec- tion 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 Sec- retary determines to be necessary to prevent the spread of plant pests. (Pub. L. 106–224, title IV, § 411, June 20, 2000, 114 Stat. 440.) Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS For transfer of functions of the Secretary of Agri- culture relating to agricultural import and entry in- spection activities under this chapter to the Secretary of Homeland Security, and for treatment of related ref- erences, see sections 231, 551(d), 552(d), and 557 of Title 6, Domestic Security, and the Department of Homeland Security Reorganization Plan of November 25, 2002, as modified, set out as a note under section 542 of Title 6. § 7712. Regulation of movement of plants, plant products, biological control organisms, nox- ious weeds, articles, and means of convey- ance (a) In general The Secretary may prohibit or restrict the im- portation, entry, exportation, or movement in interstate commerce of any plant, plant prod- uct, biological control organism, noxious weed, article, or means of conveyance, if the Secretary determines that the prohibition or restriction is necessary to prevent the introduction into the United States or the dissemination of a plant pest or noxious weed within the United States. (b) Policy The Secretary shall ensure that processes used in developing regulations under this section gov- erning consideration of import requests are based on sound science and are transparent and accessible. (c) Regulations The Secretary may issue regulations to imple- ment subsection (a), including regulations re- quiring that any plant, plant product, biological control organism, noxious weed, article, or means of conveyance imported, entered, to be exported, or moved in interstate commerce— (1) be accompanied by a permit issued by the Secretary prior to the importation, entry, ex- portation, or movement in interstate com- merce; (2) be accompanied by a certificate of inspec- tion issued (in a manner and form required by the Secretary) by appropriate officials of the country or State from which the plant, plant product, biological control organism, noxious weed, article, or means of conveyance is to be moved; (3) be subject to remedial measures the Sec- retary determines to be necessary to prevent the spread of plant pests or noxious weeds; and (4) with respect to plants or biological con- trol organisms, be grown or handled under post-entry quarantine conditions by or under the supervision of the Secretary for the pur- poses of determining whether the plant or bio- logical control organism may be infested with plant pests or may be a plant pest or noxious weed. (d) Notice Not later than 1 year after June 20, 2000, the Secretary shall publish for public comment a Page 2087 TITLE 7—AGRICULTURE § 7712a notice describing the procedures and standards that govern the consideration of import re- quests. The notice shall— (1) specify how public input will be sought in advance of and during the process of promul- gating regulations necessitating a risk assess- ment in order to ensure a fully transparent and publicly accessible process; and (2) include consideration of the following: (A) Public announcement of import re- quests that will necessitate a risk assess- ment. (B) A process for assigning major/nonrou- tine or minor/routine status to such requests based on current state of supporting sci- entific information. (C) A process for assigning priority to re- quests. (D) Guidelines for seeking relevant sci- entific and economic information in advance of initiating informal rulemaking. (E) Guidelines for ensuring availability and transparency of assumptions and uncer- tainties in the risk assessment process in- cluding applicable risk mitigation measures relied upon individually or as components of a system of mitigative measures proposed consistent with the purposes of this chapter. (e) Study and report on systems approach (1) Study The Secretary shall conduct a study of the role for and application of systems approaches designed to guard against the introduction of plant pathogens into the United States associ- ated with proposals to import plants or plant products into the United States. (2) Participation by scientists In conducting the study the Secretary shall ensure participation by scientists from State departments of agriculture, colleges and uni- versities, the private sector, and the Agricul- tural Research Service. (3) Report Not later than 2 years after June 20, 2000, the Secretary shall submit a report on the results of the study conducted under this section to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives. (f) Noxious weeds (1) Regulations In the case of noxious weeds, the Secretary may publish, by regulation, a list of noxious weeds that are prohibited or restricted from entering the United States or that are subject to restrictions on interstate movement within the United States. (2) Petition to add or remove plants from regu- lation Any person may petition the Secretary to add a plant species to, or remove a plant spe- cies from, the regulations issued by the Sec- retary under this subsection. (3) Duties of 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 deter- mination on the petition shall be based on sound science. (g) Biological control organisms (1) Regulations In the case of biological control organisms, the Secretary may publish, by regulation, a list of organisms whose movement in inter- state commerce is not prohibited or restricted. Any listing may take into account distinc- tions between organisms such as indigenous, nonindigenous, newly introduced, or commer- cially raised. (2) Petition to add or remove biological control organisms from the regulations Any person may petition the Secretary to add a biological control organism to, or re- move a biological control organism from, the regulations issued by the Secretary under this subsection. (3) Duties of 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 deter- mination on the petition shall be based on sound science. (Pub. L. 106–224, title IV, § 412, June 20, 2000, 114 Stat. 441.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT This chapter, referred to in subsec. (d)(2)(E), was in the original ‘‘this title’’, meaning title IV of Pub. L. 106–224, June 20, 2000, 114 Stat. 438, known as the Plant Protection Act, which is classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of title IV to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 7701 of this title and Tables. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS For transfer of functions of the Secretary of Agri- culture relating to agricultural import and entry in- spection activities under this chapter to the Secretary of Homeland Security, and for treatment of related ref- erences, see sections 231, 551(d), 552(d), and 557 of Title 6, Domestic Security, and the Department of Homeland Security Reorganization Plan of November 25, 2002, as modified, set out as a note under section 542 of Title 6. § 7712a. Reduction in backlog of agricultural ex- port petitions (a) Reduction efforts To the maximum extent practicable, the Sec- retary of Agriculture shall endeavor to reduce the backlog in the number of applications for permits for the export of United States agricul- tural commodities. In achieving such reduction, the Secretary shall not dilute or diminish exist- ing personnel resources that are currently man- aging sanitary and phytosanitary issues for— (1) United States agricultural commodities for which exportation is sought; and