(a) Inspection of foreign arrivals. In order to prevent the dissemination into the United States of plant pests and for the purpose of carrying out the regulations in this part, all plant pests; means of conveyance and their stores; baggage; mail; plants; plant products; soil; stone and quarry products under this part; garbage; and any other product or article of any character whatsoever which an inspector considers may be infested or infected by or contain a plant pest, arriving in the United States from any place outside thereof for entry into or movement through the United States shall be subject to inspection by an inspector at the port of first arrival, except that mail will be handled in accordance with the joint customs and postal regulations for inspecting and handling mail. No such plant pests; means of conveyance or their stores; baggage; mail; plants; plant products; soil; stone or quarry products under this part; garbage; or other products or articles which an inspector notifies the Customs authorities should be held for inspection shall be released by Customs officers for entry or onward movement until released by an inspector. The release of all means of conveyance, products and articles regulated under parts 319, 321, and 352 of this chapter shall be in accordance with the requirements of those parts and the applicable provisions in this part. Whenever it shall be deemed safe to modify the requirements of this section by exempting any class of means of conveyance, products or articles from the requirement that they be held for inspection and release of the inspector, the exemptions shall be specified in administrative instructions. Inspectors shall make local arrangements, in accordance with policies of the Plant Protection and Quarantine Programs, with the Collector of Customs for the release by Customs officers on behalf of the inspector of any class of means of conveyance, their stores, baggage, mail, or other products or articles when such arrangements do not increase unduly the danger of plant pest dissemination and will facilitate clearance of means of conveyance, baggage, mail, or other products or articles.
(b) Inspection of domestic movements. For the purpose of preventing the interstate movement of plant pests, provisions requiring inspection of means of conveyance and products or articles moving interstate may be issued as regulations in association with quarantines in part 301 or part 318 of this chapter or in this part.
Notices appearing at 24 FR 4650, June 9, 1959, 24 FR 5363, July 2, 1959, 24 FR 6889, August 26, 1959, and 24 FR 7519, September 18, 1959, provide in part as follows: That means of conveyance subject to such inspection and release requirements and arriving at any port of entry outside the regularly assigned hours of duty of the Federal plant quarantine inspector, will be held for such inspection and release, until the regularly assigned hours of duty. However, notice is also hereby given that pursuant to the provisions of the Act of August 28, 1950 (7 U.S.C. 2260) such inspection service outside of the regularly assigned hours of duty may be made available to any interested person, upon a reimbursable basis and in accordance with applicable regulations, upon request to the Plant Quarantine Inspector in Charge at such port.
Information concerning regularly assigned hours of duty for Federal plant quarantine inspectors at each port where such inspection is available may be obtained locally by application to the Plant Quarantine Inspector in Charge at such port.
[24 FR 10825, Dec. 29, 1959, as amended at 62 FR 65009, Dec. 10, 1997; 84 FR 29960, June 25, 2019]