
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 7USC7759]

 
                          TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
 
                      CHAPTER 104--PLANT PROTECTION
 
                SUBCHAPTER III--MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
 
Sec. 7759. Fees for inspection of plants for exporting or 
        transiting
        

(a) to (e) Repealed. Pub. L. 106-224, title IV, Sec. 438(a)(3), June 20, 
        2000, 114 Stat. 454

(f) Authorization of appropriations; fees, late payment penalties, and 
        accrued interest

    (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.

(Sept. 21, 1944, ch. 412, title I, Sec. 102, 58 Stat. 735; June 17, 
1949, ch. 220, 63 Stat. 200; Pub. L. 85-36, title II, Sec. 201, May 23, 
1957, 71 Stat. 35; Pub. L. 94-231, Sec. 1, Mar. 15, 1976, 90 Stat. 215; 
Pub. L. 101-624, title XXV, Secs. 2504, 2509(b), Nov. 28, 1990, 104 
Stat. 4068, 4070; Pub. L. 106-224, title IV, Sec. 438(a)(3), June 20, 
2000, 114 Stat. 454.)

                          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, Sec. 2504, substituted ``foreign 
countries'' for ``all countries of the Western Hemisphere'' and inserted 
``foreign or'' before ``international''.
    Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 101-624, Sec. 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.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in section 1508 of this title; title 21 
section 129.
