§7713 Notification and Holding Requirements Upon Arrival

Summary

The Secretary of the Treasury must quickly tell the Secretary of Agriculture when any plant, plant product, biological control organism, plant pest, or noxious weed arrives at a port of entry. The Treasury must keep that item at the port until the Agriculture Department inspects it and either clears it to enter or move through the United States, or the Agriculture Department releases it. If the Secretary of Agriculture, under rules, says a country or part of a country is exempt, those notice and holding rules do not apply to imports from that place. Anyone responsible for items that need a permit under sections 7711 or 7712 must notify the Secretary (or a State official the Secretary directs) as soon as possible after arrival and before the item leaves the port. The notice must include the consignee’s name and address, what and how much is being moved, and the country and place where it was grown or located. No one may move such imported items from a port or between states unless they have been inspected and cleared or released by the Secretary.