§7759 — Title 7 Agriculture | U.S. Code

Summary

The Secretary of Agriculture may set and collect fees to pay for inspecting plants and plant products that will be exported or pass through the United States, and for certifying they meet foreign countries’ pest rules or were not exposed to pests in transit. The person who gets the inspection must pay. If payment is late, the Secretary will add a late fee and charge interest as required by section 3717 of title 31. Congress can also give whatever money is needed to carry out these rules, but those funds cannot be used to pay for property that was damaged or destroyed unless a law specifically allows it. All fees, penalties, and interest go back to the accounts that paid the inspection costs and stay available until spent. The Secretary can place a legal claim (a lien) on plants or products for unpaid amounts, stop providing services to a nonpayer, and, after notice, sell or otherwise dispose of plants with a lien. If a sale brings in more than what is owed plus sale costs, the owner can apply with proof to get the extra within six months; otherwise the extra goes to the same cost accounts.

Title 7, §7759

Agriculture — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)

(f)(1)Notwithstanding paragraph (2), there are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this section. Unless otherwise specifically authorized or provided for in appropriations Acts, no part of such sums shall be used to pay the cost or value of property injured or destroyed.

(2)The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to prescribe and collect fees to recover the costs of providing for the inspection of plants and plant products offered for export or transiting the United States and certifying to shippers and interested parties as to the freedom of such plants and plant products from plant pests according to the phytosanitary requirements of the foreign countries to which such plants and plant products may be exported, or to the freedom from exposure to plant pests while in transit through the United States. Any person for whom such an activity is performed shall be liable for payment of fees assessed. Upon failure to pay such fees when due, the Secretary of Agriculture shall assess a late payment penalty, and such overdue fees shall accrue interest, as required by section 3717 of title 31. All fees, late payment penalties, and accrued interest collected shall be credited to such accounts that incur the costs and shall remain available until expended without fiscal year limitation. The Secretary of Agriculture shall have a lien for the fees, any late payment penalty, and any accrued interest assessed against the plant or plant product for which services have been provided. In the case of any person who fails to make payment when due, the Secretary of Agriculture shall also have a lien against any plant or plant product thereafter attempted to be exported by such person. The Secretary of Agriculture may, in case of nonpayment of the fees, late payment penalty, or accrued interest, after giving reasonable notice of default to the person liable for payment of such assessments, sell at public sale after reasonable public notice, or otherwise dispose of, any such plant or plant product upon which the Secretary of Agriculture has a lien pursuant to this section. If the sale proceeds exceed the fees due, any late payment penalty assessed, any accrued interest and the expenses of the sale, the excess shall be paid, in accordance with regulations of the Secretary of Agriculture, to the owner of the plant or plant product sold upon the owner making application therefore with proof of ownership, within six months after such sale, and otherwise the excess shall be credited to accounts that incur the costs and shall remain available until expended. The Secretary of Agriculture shall, pursuant to regulations as prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture, suspend performance of services to persons who have failed to pay such fees, late payment penalty and accrued interest.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Section was formerly classified to section 147a of this title. Section was not enacted as part of the Plant Protection Act which comprises this chapter.

Amendments

2000—Subsecs. (a) to (e). Pub. L. 106–224 struck out subsecs. (a) to (e), which authorized measures for control and eradication of plant pests, set forth provisions relating to intergovernmental cooperation and responsibility of cooperating foreign agencies, defined terms as used in this section, and authorized

Rules and Regulations

to provide for inspection and certification of plants and plant products offered for export or transiting the United States. 1990—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 101–624, § 2504, substituted “foreign countries” for “all countries of the Western Hemisphere” and inserted “foreign or” before “international”. Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 101–624, § 2509(b), amended subsec. (f) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (f) read as follows: “There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as the Congress may annually determine to be necessary to enable the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out the provisions of this section. Unless otherwise specifically authorized, or provided for in appropriations, no part of such sums shall be used to pay the cost or value of property injured or destroyed.” 1976—Subsecs. (a) to (d). Pub. L. 94–231 redesignated existing provisions of subsec. (a) as subsecs. (a) to (d) and broadened Secretary’s authority to control and eradicate plant pests and animal diseases, extended Secretary’s authority to cooperate with foreign governments, and inserted definitions for “plant pest” and “living stage”. Former subsecs. (b) and (c) redesignated (e) and (f), respectively. Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 94–231 redesignated subsec. (b) as (e) and made discretionary the Secretary’s authority to provide phytosanitary inspection and certification service for domestic plants and plant products offered for export or transit in the United States. Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 94–231 redesignated subsec. (c) as (f) and substituted provisions authorizing appropriations on a Congressional finding of necessity made “annually” for provisions authorizing appropriations on a Congressional finding of necessity made “from time to time”. 1957—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 85–36 inserted “insect pests, plant diseases, and nematodes, such as imported fire ant, soybean cyst nematode, witchweed, spotted alfalfa aphid,” after “or to prevent or retard the spread of”. 1949—Subsec. (a). Act June 17, 1949, authorized the Secretary to carry out operations to combat the citrus blackfly, white-fringed beetle, and the Hall scale.

§7759 Fees for Inspection of Plants for Exporting or Transiting