[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 7, Volume 5]
[Revised as of January 1, 2005]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 7CFR330.300]

[Page 413-414]
 
                          TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
 
 CHAPTER III--ANIMAL AND PLANT HEALTH INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF 
                               AGRICULTURE
 
PART 330_FEDERAL PLANT PEST REGULATIONS; GENERAL; PLANT PESTS; SOIL, 
STONE, AND QUARRY PRODUCTS; GARBAGE--Table of Contents
 
          Subpart_Movement of Soil, Stone, And Quarry Products
 
Sec. 330.300  Soil from foreign countries or Territories or possessions.\1\


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    \1\ The movement of soil from Puerto Rico into or through any other 
State, Territory, or District of the United States is also subject to 
the provisions of the imported fire ant quarantine and regulations 
contained in 7 CFR 301.81 et seq.
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    No soil shall be moved into or through the United States from any 
place outside thereof or from any Territory or possession into or 
through any other Territory or possession or the Continental United 
States, whether the soil is moved as such or incidentally adhering to 
means of conveyance or other articles, except as authorized in Sec. 
318.60 or Sec. 319.69 of this chapter, or this subpart.
    (a) Permits authorized. The Deputy Administrator may issue permits 
under this section for movements of soil not governed by Sec. 318.60 or 
Sec. 319.69 of this chapter, for research, analytical, religious, 
ceremonial, patriotic, or similar purposes, or such other purposes as he 
shall deem consistent with the objectives of this part, specifying in 
the permit or in the related correspondence, the safeguards, including 
methods of treatment, or other conditions which he deems necessary for 
the purpose of preventing the dissemination of plant pests into the 
United States or interstate. Whenever it is possible to formulate a 
general rule specifying such conditions, it shall be promulgated in 
administrative instructions and the applicable provisions thereof may be 
incorporated into a permit by citation, but shall be applicable whether 
or not so cited.
    (b) Application for permits. Only persons resident in the United 
States may apply for permits under this section to move soil into the 
United States from any place outside thereof, or from any territory or 
possession into or through any other Territory or possession or the 
Continental United States. Persons resident in the United States 
contemplating such movements, or any persons contemplating movement 
through the United States, of soil under this section shall first make 
application for permits authorizing such movement by submitting to the 
Plant Protection and Quarantine Programs the form provided therefor by 
the Plant Protection and Quarantine Programs or by submitting, in the 
form of a letter or other written communication, the following 
information: Origin of the shipment, destination, quantity, method of 
shipment, proposed port of first arrival in the United States, port of 
export (if applicable), approximate date of arrival in the United 
States, intended use, measures to be employed to prevent danger of plant 
pest dissemination, method of final disposition, and the number of 
parcels expected to be moved. In acting upon the application for permits 
for such movement of soil, the Deputy Administrator will follow the 
procedures outlined in Sec. 330.202 for

[[Page 414]]

the consideration of applications for permits to move plant pests 
insofar as they are applicable.
    (c) Issuance of permits; conditions of permits. Upon the approval of 
an application for a permit authorizing the movement of soil under this 
section, the permit will be issued. The permit may contain any 
conditions which are necessary, in the opinion of the Deputy 
Administrator, to prevent dissemination of plant pests into the United 
States or interstate, including conditions with respect to routing, 
packing, and labeling of the soil. The Deputy Administrator may require 
the applicant to agree in writing to such conditions prior to the 
issuance of the permit. The importer will receive, as a part of the 
permit, information on the manner in which the importation is to be 
made. A permit without conditions may be issued orally.
    (d) Containers; labels. All containers for soil moved under this 
section shall be stoutly constructed so as to prevent breakage in 
transit and danger of plant pest dissemination and shall be 
appropriately labeled as to contents. If the soil is moved by mail, 
special mailing labels will be issued to the importer, with instructions 
for their use, which he is to send to the foreign shipper. The quantity 
of mailing labels issued will be sufficient for the foreign shipper to 
attach one to each parcel moved by mail. Such mailing labels will 
indicate to the postal and the plant quarantine officials that the 
movement is authorized under the conditions specified in this permit. 
Importations arriving by mail without labels will be subject to refusal 
of entry into the United States, or interstate movement, by the 
inspector unless treated, at the expense of the owner, in a manner to 
remove danger of plant pest dissemination. The Deputy Administrator may 
issue mailing labels for movement into or through the United States from 
any place outside thereof, or from any Territory or possession into or 
through any other Territory or possession of the continental United 
States, of earth other than soil when the movement might otherwise be 
impeded because of the similarity to soil subject to this section.

(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 
0579-0054)

[24 FR 10855, Dec. 29, 1959, as amended at 47 FR 36103, Aug. 19, 1982; 
48 FR 57466, Dec. 30, 1983; 62 FR 65009, Dec. 10, 1997]