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. 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 District: Provided, That if the Secretary of Agriculture determines under this section that it is necessary to quarantine a State entirely comprised of islands, the Secretary of Agriculture, in implementing the restrictions authorized under this section, shall give consideration to enhancing passenger movement and commerce on and between islands in the State: 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 this chapter 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 authorized, whenever he deems such action advisable and necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter, 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 this chapter 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; Pub. L. 95–439, §4, Oct. 10, 1978, 92 Stat. 1062; Pub. L. 97–432, §1(3), Jan. 8, 1983, 96 Stat. 2276; Pub. L. 104–127, title IX, §911, Apr. 4, 1996, 110 Stat. 1185.)
1996—Pub. L. 104–127, in fourth sentence, inserted “if the Secretary of Agriculture determines under this section that it is necessary to quarantine a State entirely comprised of islands, the Secretary of Agriculture, in implementing the restrictions authorized under this section, shall give consideration to enhancing passenger movement and commerce on and between islands in the State: Provided further, That” after “Provided, That”.
1983—Pub. L. 97–432 struck out provision directing Secretary to hold a hearing before promulgating a determination of necessity to quarantine.
1978—Pub. L. 95–439 struck out provisions requiring the Secretary of Agriculture to give notice of the establishment of a quarantine to common carriers doing business in or through the quarantined area, to publish notice of the establishment of the quarantine in newspapers in the quarantined area, and to give notice of the rules and regulations provided for in this section for the notice of establishment of quarantine.
1926—Act Apr. 13, 1926, inserted last three provisos.
1917—Act Mar. 4, 1917, substituted “that such quarantine is necessary to prevent the spread of” for “the fact that,” in first sentence, inserted “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 infection” after the first three references to “seeds, or other plant products,”, and inserted “when the public interest will permit” after “That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of Agriculture”.
Functions of all officers, agencies, and employees of Department of Agriculture transferred, with certain exceptions, to Secretary of Agriculture by 1953 Reorg. Plan No. 2, §1, eff. June 4, 1953, 18 F.R. 3219, 67 Stat. 633, set out as a note under section 2201 of this title.
This section is referred to in title 39 section 3014.