Regulations last checked for updates: Oct 31, 2024

Title 7 - Agriculture last revised: Oct 25, 2024
§ 301.32-4 - Conditions governing the interstate movement of regulated articles from quarantined areas.

Any regulated article may be moved interstate from a quarantined area 1 only if moved under the following conditions:

1 Requirements under all other applicable Federal domestic plant quarantines and regulations must also be met.

(a) With a certificate or limited permit issued and attached in accordance with §§ 301.32-5 and 301.32-8;

(b) Without a certificate or limited permit if:

(1) The regulated article originated outside the quarantined area and is either moved in an enclosed vehicle or is completely enclosed by a covering adequate to prevent access by fruit flies (such as canvas, plastic, or other closely woven cloth) while moving through the quarantined area; and

(2) The point of origin of the regulated article is indicated on the waybill, and the enclosed vehicle or the enclosure that contains the regulated article is not opened, unpacked, or unloaded in the quarantined area; and

(3) The regulated article is moved through the quarantined area without stopping except for refueling or for traffic conditions, such as traffic lights or stop signs.

(c) Without a certificate or limited permit if the regulated article is moved:

(1) By the United States Department of Agriculture for experimental or scientific purposes;

(2) Pursuant to a permit issued by the Administrator for the regulated article;

(3) Under conditions specified on the permit and found by the Administrator to be adequate to prevent the spread of fruit flies; and

(4) With a tag or label bearing the number of the permit issued for the regulated article attached to the outside of the container of the regulated article or attached to the regulated article itself if not in a container.

(d) Hass avocados that are grown or packed in an area quarantined for Mediterranean, Mexican, or sapote fruit fly and that are moving interstate from such an area are subject to the following additional requirements:

(1) Orchard sanitation and safeguarding requirements. (i) Hass avocado fruit that has fallen from the trees may not be included in field boxes of fruit to be packed for shipping.

(ii) Harvested Hass avocados must be placed in field boxes or containers of field boxes that are marked to show the location of the orchard. The avocados must be moved from the orchard to the packinghouse within 3 hours of harvest or they must be protected from fruit fly infestation until moved.

(iii) Hass avocados must be protected from fruit fly infestations during their movement from the orchard to the packinghouse and must be accompanied by a field record indicating the location of the orchard where the avocados originated.

(2) Packinghouse requirements for Hass avocados packed within a quarantined area. (i) All openings to the outside of the packinghouse must be covered by screening with openings of not more than 1.6 mm or by some other barrier that prevents insects from entering the packinghouse.

(ii) The packinghouse must have double doors at the entrance to the facility and at the interior entrance to the area where the avocados are packed.

(iii) If the Hass avocados were grown in an orchard within the quarantined area, the identity of the avocados must be maintained from field boxes or containers to the shipping boxes in the packinghouse so that the avocados can be traced back to the orchard in which they were grown. The avocados must be packed in boxes or crates that are clearly marked with the identity of the grower and the packinghouse.

(iv) Any boxes of Hass avocados packed in the quarantined area must be placed in a refrigerated truck or refrigerated container and remain in that truck or container while in transit through the quarantined area. Prior to leaving the packinghouse, the truck or container must be secured with a seal that will be broken when the truck or container is opened. Once sealed, the refrigerated truck or refrigerated container must remain unopened until it is outside the quarantined area.

(v) Any avocados that have not been packed or loaded into a refrigerated truck or refrigerated container by the end of the workday must be kept inside the screened packinghouse.

(3) Packinghouse requirements for Hass avocados packed outside a quarantined area but grown within a quarantined area. Hass avocados grown in an orchard within a quarantined area but packed in a packinghouse outside the quarantined area must meet the requirements of paragraph (d)(2)(iii) of this section.

(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control numbers 0579-0088 and 0579-0336) [73 FR 32432, June 9, 2008, as amended at 74 FR 31159, June 30, 2009; 75 FR 12962, Mar. 18, 2010; 76 FR 43807, July 22, 2011; 88 FR 80004, Dec. 29, 2022]
authority: 7 U.S.C. 7701-7772 and 7781-7786; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.3
cite as: 7 CFR 301.32-4