United States from any country or locality specified in such promulgation, any of the class of nursery stock or of other class of plants, fruits, vegetables, roots, bulbs, seeds, or other plant products named therein, regardless of the use for which the same is intended: Provided, That before the Secretary of Agriculture shall promulgate his determination that it is necessary to forbid the importation into the United States of the articles named in this section he shall, after due notice to interested parties, give a public hearing, under such rules and regulations as he shall prescribe, at which hearing any interested party may appear and be heard, either in person or by attorney: Provided further, That the quarantine provisions of this section, as applyto the white-pine blister rust, potato wart, and the Mediterranean fruit fly, shall become and be effective on August 20, 1912. (Aug. 20, 1912, ch. 308, § 7, 37 Stat. 317.) CROSS REFERENCE Importation for scientific purposes of plants forbidden under this section, see section 155 of this title. § 161. Interstate quarantine; shipments or removals from quarantined localities forbidden; regulations by Secretary for shipment, etc., from quarantined localities; notice and hearings; promulgation. The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized and directed to quarantine any State, Territory, or District of the United States, or any portion thereof, when he shall determine that such quarantine is necessary to prevent the spread of a dangerous plant disease or insect infestation, new to or not theretofore widely prevalent or distributed within and throughout the United States; and the Secretary of Agriculture is directed to give notice of the establishment of such quarantine to common carriers doing business in or through such quarantined area, and shall publish in such newspapers in the quarantined area as he shall select notice of the establishment of quarantine. No person shall ship or offer for shipment to any common carrier nor shall any common carrier receive for transportation or transport, nor shall any person carry or transport from any quarantined State or Territory or District of the United States, or from any quarantined portion thereof, into or through any other State or Territory or District, any class of nursery stock or any other class of plants, fruits, vegetables, roots, bulbs, seeds, or other plant products, or any class of stone or quarry products, or any other article of any character whatsoever, capable of carrying any dangerous plant disease or insect infestation, specified in the notice of quarantine except as hereinafter provided. It shall be unlawful to move, or allow to be moved, any class of nursery stock or any other class of plants, fruits, vegetables, roots, bulbs, seeds, or other plant products, or any class of stone or quarry products or any other article of any character whatsoever, capable of carrying any dangerous plant disease or insect infestation, specified in the notice of quarantine hereinbefore provided, and regardless of the use for which the same is intended, from any quarantined State or Territory or District of the United States or quarantined portion thereof, into or through any other State or Territory or District, in manner or method or under conditions other than those prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture. It shall be the duty of the Secretary of Agriculture, when the public interests will permit, to make and promulgate rules and regulations which shall permit and govern the inspection, disinfection, certification, and method and manner of delivery and shipment of the class of nursery stock or of any other class of plants, fruits, vegetables, roots, bulbs, seeds, or other plant products, or any class of stone or quarry products, or any other article of any character whatsoever, capable of carrying any dangerous plant disease or insect infestation, specified in the notice of quarantine hereinbefore provided, and regardless of the use for which the same is intended, from a quarantined State or Territory or District of the United States, or quarantined portion thereof, into or through any other State or Territory or Distict; and the Secretary of Agriculture shall give notice of such rules and regulations as hereinbefore provided in this section for the notice of the establishment of quarantine: Provided, That before the Secretary of Agriculture shall promulgate his determination that it is necessary to quarantine any State, Territory, or District of the United States, or portion thereof, under the authority given in this section, he shall, after due notice to interested parties, give a public hearing under such rules and regulations as he shall prescribe, at which hearing any interested party may appear and be heard, either in person or by attorney: Provided further, That until the Secretary of Agriculture shall have made a determination that such a quarantine is necessary and has duly established the same with reference to any dangerous plant disease or insect infestation, as hereinabove provided, nothing in sections 151-154, 156-165, 167 of this title shall be construed to prevent any State, Territory, Insular Possession, or District from promulgating, enacting, and enforcing any quarantine, prohibiting or restricting the transportation of any class of nursery stock, plant, fruit, seed, or other product or article subject to the restrictions of this section, into or through such State, Territory, District, or portion thereof, from any other State, Territory, District, or portion thereof, when it shall be found, by the State, Territory, or District promulgating or enacting the same, that such dangerous plant disease or insect infestation exists in such other State, Territory, District, or portion thereof: Provided further, That the Secretary of Agriculture is hereby authorized, whenever he deems such action advisable and necessary to carry out the purposes of sections 151-154, 156-165, 167 of this title, to cooperate with any State, Territory, or District, in connection with any quarantine, enacted or promulgated by such State, Territory, or District, as specified in the preceding proviso: Provided further, That any nursery stock, plant, fruit, seed, or other product or article, subject to the restrictions of this section, a quarantine with respect to which shall have been established by the Secretary of Agriculture under the provisions of sections 151154, 156-165, 167 of this title shall, when transported to, into, or through any State, Territory, or District, in violation of such quarantine, be subject to the operation and effect of the laws of such State, Territory, or District, enacted in the exercise of its police powers, to the same extent and in the same manner as though such nursery stock, plant, fruit, seed, or other product or article had been produced in such State, Territory, or District, and shall not be exempt therefrom by reason of being introduced therein in original packages or otherwise. (Aug. 20, 1912, ch. 308, § 8, 37 Stat. 318; Mar. 4, 1917, ch. 179, 39 Stat. 1165; Apr. 13, 1926, ch. 135, 44 Stat. 250.) § 161a. Inspection and certification of domestic plants, and plant products for export; disposition of moneys.-Any moneys received on account of the inspection under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of Agriculture may prescribe of domestic plants and plant products when offered for export and on account of the certification to shippers and interested parties of freedom of such products from injurious plant diseases and insect pests according to the sanitary requirements of the foreign countries affected shall be covered into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts. (July 12, 1943, ch. 215, § 1, 57 Stat. 408; June 28, 1944, ch. 296, § 1, 58 Stat. 440.) § 162. General rules and regulations by Secretary.-The Secretary of Agriculture shall make and promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary for carrying out the purposes of sections 151-154, 156-165, 167 of this title. (Aug. 20, 1912, ch. 308, § 9, 37 Stat. 318.) § 163. General violations; forgery, alterations, etc., of certificates; punishment; proof of violations by common carrier.—Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of sections 151-154, 156-165, 167 of this title, or who shall forge, counterfeit, alter, deface, or destroy any certificate provided for in sections 151-154, 156-165, 167 of this title or in the regulations of the Secretary of Agriculture, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not exceeding $500 or by imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court: Provided, That no common carrier shall be deemed to have violated the provisions of sections 151-154, 156-162 of this title on proof that such carrier did not knowingly receive for transportation or transport nursery stock or other plants or plant products as such from one State, Territory, or District of the United States into or through any or State, Territory, or District. (Aug. 20, 1912, ch. 308, § 10, 37 State. 318.) § 164. Duty of United States attorneys to prosecute.-It shall be the duty of the United States attorneys diligently to prosecute any violations of sections 151-154, 156-165, 167 of this title which are brought to their attention by the Secretary of Agriculture or which come to their notice by other means. (Aug. 20, 1912, ch. 308, § 10, 37 Stat. 318.) § 164a. Enforcement of quarantine against nursery stock and plant products; search and seizure.-Any employee of the Department of Agriculture, authorized by the Secretary of Agriculture to enforce the provisions of sections 151-154, 156-165, 167 of this title and furnished with and wearing a suitable badge for identification, who has probable cause to believe that any person coming into the United States, or any vehicle, receptacle, boat, ship, or vessel, coming from any country or countries or moving interstate, possesses, carries, or contains any nursery stock, plants, plant products, or other articles the entry or movement of which in interstate or foreign commerce is prohibted or restricted by the provisions of sections 151-154, 156-165, 167 of this title, or by any quarantine or order of the Secretary of Agriculture issued or promulgated pursuant thereto, shall have power to stop and without warrant, to inspect, search, and examine such person, vehicle, receptacle, boat, ship, or vessel, and to seize, destroy, or otherwise dispose of, such nursery stock, plants, plant products, or other articles found to be moving or to have been moved in interstate commerce or to have been brought into the United States inviolation of sections 151-154, 156-165, 167 of this title or of such quarantine or order. (Aug. 20, 1912, ch. 308, § 10, as added May 1, 1928, ch. 462, 45 Stat. 468.) § 165. Federal Horticultural Board. Functions of Federal Horticultural Board created by this section, act August 20, 1912, ch. 308, § 12, 37 Stat. 319, were devolved upon Plant Quarantine and Control Administration and an Advisory Federal Plant Quarantine Board similar in composition to Federal Horticultural Board was created by act May 16, 1928, ch. 572, 45 Stat. 565. This Advisory Board was abolished by act March 3, 1933, ch. 203, 47 Stat. 1463. See section 165a of this title. § 165a. Federal Horticultural Board; function transferred to Plant Quarantine and Control Administration.-The functions of the Federal Horticultural Board shall devolve upon and be exercised by the Plant Quarantine and Control Administration. (May 16, 1928, ch. 572, 45 Stat. 565; Mar. 3, 1933, ch. 203, 47 Stat. 1463.) Advisory Federal Plant Quarantine Board, originally established by act May 16, 1928, cited to text, was abolished by act March 3, 1933, cited to text. § 166. State terminal inspection; transmission of mailed packages for State inspection; nonmailable matter; punishment for violations; rules and regulations by Postmaster General. When any State shall provide for terminal inspection of plants and plant products, and shall establish and maintain, at the sole expense of the State, such inspection at one or more places therein, the proper officials of said State may submit to the Secretary of Agriculture a list of plants and plant products and the plant pests transmitted thereby, that in the opinon of said officials should be subject to terminal inspection in order to prevent the introduction or dissemination in said State of pests injurious to agriculture. Upon his approval of said list, in whole or in part, the Secretary of Agriculture shall transmit the same to the Postmaster General, and thereafter all packages containing any plants or plant products named in said approved lists shall, upon payment of postage therefor, be forwarded by the postmaster at the destination of said package to the proper State official at the nearest place where inspection is maintained. If the plants or plant products (including seed) are found upon inspection to be free from injurious 1 pests and not in violation of a plant-quarantine law or plantquarantine regulation of the United States Department of Agriculture or of the State of destination pertaining to such injurious pests, or if infected shall be disinfected by said official, they shall upon payment of postage therefor be returned to the postmaster at the place of inspection to be forward to the person to whom they are addressed; but if found to be infected with injurious pests and incapable of satisfactory disinfection or in violation of a plant-quarantine law or plant-quarantine regulation of the United States Department of Agriculture or of the State of destination pertaining to such injurious pests, the State inspector shall so notify the postmaster at the place of inspection who shall promply notify the sender of said plants or plant products that they will be returned to him upon his request and at his expense, or in default of such request that they will be turned over to the State authorities for destruction. It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to deposit in the United States mails any package containing any plant or plant product addressed to any place within a State maintaining inspection thereof, as herein defined, without plainly marking the package so that its contents may be readily ascertained by an inspection of the outside thereof. Whoever shall fail to so mark said packages shall be punished by a fine of not more than $100. The Postmaster General is hereby authorized and directed to make all needful rules and regulations for carrying out the purposes hereof. (Mar. 4, 1915, ch. 144, 38 Stat. 1113; June 4, 1936, ch. 495, 49 Stat. 1461.) § 167. Provision relating to District of Columbia regarding shipment, inspection, seizure, destruction, etc., of plants, etc.; punishment.-Prohibition against shipment generally.-In order further to control and eradicate and to prevent the dissemination of dangerous plant diseases and insect infections and infestations no plant or plant products for or capable of propagation, including nursery stock, hereinafter referred to as plants and plant products, shall be moved or allowed to be moved, shipped, transported, or carried by any means whatever into or out of the District of Columbia, except in compliance with such rules and regulations as shall be prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture as hereinafter provided. Eradication by owner.-Whenever the Secretary of Agriculture, after investigation, shall determine that any plants and plant products in the District of Columbia are infested or infected with insect pests and diseases and that any place, articles, and substances used or connected therewith are so infested or infected, written notice shall be given by him to the owner or person in possession or control thereof, and such owner or person shall forthwith control or eradicate and prevent the dissemination of such insect pest or disease and shall remove, cut, or destroy such infested and infected plants, plant products, and articles and substances used or connected therewith, which are hereby declared 1 So in original. Probably should read "forwarded." 650673°-46-15 |