7 USC 7712 - Regulation of movement of plants, plant products, biological control organisms, noxious weeds, articles, and means of conveyance

U.S Code last checked for updates: May 08, 2024

§ 7712.

Regulation of movement of plants, plant products, biological control organisms, noxious weeds, articles, and means of conveyance

(a)

In general

(b)

Policy

(c)

Regulations

The Secretary may issue regulations to implement subsection (a), including regulations requiring 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, exportation, or movement in interstate commerce;

(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, plant product, biological control organism, noxious weed, article, or means of conveyance is to be moved;

(3)

be subject to remedial measures the Secretary determines to be necessary to prevent the spread of plant pests or noxious weeds; and

(4)

with respect to plants or biological control organisms, be grown or handled under post-entry quarantine conditions by or under the supervision of the Secretary for the purposes of determining whether the plant or biological 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 notice describing the procedures and standards that govern the consideration of import requests. The notice shall—

(1)

specify how public input will be sought in advance of and during the process of promulgating regulations necessitating a risk assessment in order to ensure a fully transparent and publicly accessible process; and

(2)

include consideration of the following:

(A)

Public announcement of import requests that will necessitate a risk assessment.

(B)

A process for assigning major/nonroutine or minor/routine status to such requests based on current state of supporting scientific information.

(C)

A process for assigning priority to requests.

(D)

Guidelines for seeking relevant scientific and economic information in advance of initiating informal rulemaking.

(E)

Guidelines for ensuring availability and transparency of assumptions and uncertainties in the risk assessment process including 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

(2)

Participation by scientists

(3)

Report

(f)

Noxious weeds

(1)

Regulations

(2)

Petition to add or remove plants from regulation

(3)

Duties of the Secretary

(g)

Biological control organisms

(1)

Regulations

(2)

Petition to add or remove biological control organisms from the regulations

(3)

Duties of the Secretary

(Pub. L. 106–224, title IV, § 412, June 20, 2000, 114 Stat. 441.)

cite as: 7 USC 7712