Title 7AgricultureRelease 119-73

§281 Honeybee importation

Title 7 › Chapter CHAPTER 11— - HONEYBEES › § 281

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of Agriculture can ban or limit bringing honeybees and honeybee semen into or through the United States to stop diseases, parasites, harmful genetic material, or unwanted bee types from getting in or spreading. The Agriculture and Treasury Secretaries can make rules to enforce this. Bees or bee semen that arrive without following the rules must be destroyed or sent back immediately. "Honeybee" means all life stages and the germ plasm of Apis, but not semen.

Full Legal Text

Title 7, §281

Agriculture — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to prohibit or restrict the importation or entry of honeybees and honeybee semen into or through the United States in order to prevent the introduction and spread of diseases and parasites harmful to honeybees, the introduction of genetically undesirable germ plasm of honeybees, or the introduction and spread of undesirable species or subspecies of honeybees and the semen of honeybees.
(b)The Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Treasury are each authorized to prescribe such regulations as the respective Secretary determines necessary to carry out this section.
(c)Honeybees or honeybee semen offered for importation into, intercepted entering, or having entered the United States, other than in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Treasury, shall be destroyed or immediately exported.
(d)As used in this chapter, the term “honeybee” means all life stages and the germ plasm of honeybees of the genus Apis, except honeybee semen.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1994—Pub. L. 103–465 amended section generally, substituting present provisions for former subsecs. (a) to (e) restricting importation of honeybees and honeybee semen into United States, providing for promulgation of

Rules and Regulations

as to such importation, providing for destruction or immediate exportation of nonexcepted honeybees or honeybee semen offered for import or intercepted, and defining “honeybee”. 1993—Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 103–182, § 361(d)(2)(A), added par. (3). Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 103–182, § 361(d)(2)(B), inserted “(1)” after “only from” and added cl. (2). 1976—Pub. L. 94–319 incorporated existing provisions, which related only to honeybees, into subsecs. (a) to (e) relating to honeybees and honeybee semen, making honeybee provisions applicable to all life stages and the germ plasm of honeybees instead of only to honeybees in the adult stage, restating purpose of prohibiting importation of honeybees and restating conditions to be determined by Secretary of Agriculture with respect to countries from which honeybees may be imported. 1962—Pub. L. 87–539 enlarged prohibition against importation of honeybees to include the honeybee of the genus Apis instead of only the honeybee Apis mellifica and restricted permission to import the honeybee to countries which take adequate precautions to prevent importation of honeybees from countries where dangerous diseases exist.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1994 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 103–465 effective on the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement with respect to the United States (Jan. 1, 1995), except as otherwise provided, see section 451 of Pub. L. 103–465, set out as an

Effective Date

note under section 3601 of Title 19, Customs Duties.

Short Title

Act Aug. 31, 1922, as amended, which is classified to this chapter, is popularly known as the “Honeybee Act”.

Transfer of Functions

For

Transfer of Functions

of the Secretary of Agriculture relating to agricultural import and entry inspection activities under this section to the Secretary of Homeland Security, and for treatment of related references, see section 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.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

7 U.S.C. § 281

Title 7Agriculture

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73