7 U.S.C. § 7702
Section 7702 · Definitions
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 9 court decisions — leading case 346 F. Supp. 2d 1075 - Cactus Corner, LLC v. U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (2004)
Most recently applied in Amazon Services LLC v. AGRI (July 2024)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
In this chapter:
(1) Article
The term “article” means any material or tangible object that could harbor plant pests or noxious weeds.
(2) Biological control organism
The term “biological control organism” means any enemy, antagonist, or competitor used to control a plant pest or noxious weed.
(3) Enter and entry
The terms “enter” and “entry” mean to move into, or the act of movement into, the commerce of the United States.
(4) Export and exportation
The terms “export” and “exportation” mean to move from, or the act of movement from, the United States to any place outside the United States.
(5) Import and importation
The terms “import” and “importation” mean to move into, or the act of movement into, the territorial limits of the United States.
(6) Interstate
The term “interstate” means—
(A) from one State into or through any other State; or
(B) within the District of Columbia, Guam, the Virgin Islands of the United States, or any other territory or possession of the United States.
(7) Interstate commerce
The term “interstate commerce” means trade, traffic, or other commerce—
(A) between a place in a State and a point in another State, or between points within the same State but through any place outside that State; or
(B) within the District of Columbia, Guam, the Virgin Islands of the United States, or any other territory or possession of the United States.
(8) Means of conveyance
The term “means of conveyance” means any personal property used for or intended for use for the movement of any other personal property.
(9) Move and related terms
The terms “move”, “moving”, and “movement” mean—
(A) to carry, enter, import, mail, ship, or transport;
(B) to aid, abet, cause, or induce the carrying, entering, importing, mailing, shipping, or transporting;
(C) to offer to carry, enter, import, mail, ship, or transport;
(D) to receive to carry, enter, import, mail, ship, or transport;
(E) to release into the environment; or
(F) to allow any of the activities described in a preceding subparagraph.
(10) Noxious weed
The term “noxious weed” means any plant or plant product that can directly or indirectly injure or cause damage to crops (including nursery stock or plant products), livestock, poultry, or other interests of agriculture, irrigation, navigation, the natural resources of the United States, the public health, or the environment.
(11) Permit
The term “permit” means a written or oral authorization, including by electronic methods, by the Secretary to move plants, plant products, biological control organisms, plant pests, noxious weeds, or articles under conditions prescribed by the Secretary.
(12) Person
The term “person” means any individual, partnership, corporation, association, joint venture, or other legal entity.
(13) Plant
The term “plant” means any plant (including any plant part) for or capable of propagation, including a tree, a tissue culture, a plantlet culture, pollen, a shrub, a vine, a cutting, a graft, a scion, a bud, a bulb, a root, and a seed.
(14) Plant pest
The term “plant pest” means any living stage of any of the following that can directly or indirectly injure, cause damage to, or cause disease in any plant or plant product:
(A) A protozoan.
(B) A nonhuman animal.
(C) A parasitic plant.
(D) A bacterium.
(E) A fungus.
(F) A virus or viroid.
(G) An infectious agent or other pathogen.
(H) Any article similar to or allied with any of the articles specified in the preceding subparagraphs.
(15) Plant product
The term “plant product” means—
(A) any flower, fruit, vegetable, root, bulb, seed, or other plant part that is not included in the definition of plant; or
(B) any manufactured or processed plant or plant part.
(16) Secretary
The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of Agriculture.
(17) State
The term “State” means any of the several States of the United States, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Virgin Islands of the United States, or any other territory or possession of the United States.
(18) Systems approach
For the purposes of section 7712(e) of this title, the term “systems approach” means a defined set of phytosanitary procedures, at least two of which have an independent effect in mitigating pest risk associated with the movement of commodities.
(19) This chapter
Except when used in this section, the term “this chapter” includes any regulation or order issued by the Secretary under the authority of this chapter.
(20) United States
The term “United States” means all of the States.