Administrator. The Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), U.S. Department of Agriculture, or any other employee of APHIS to whom authority has been delegated to act in the Administrator's stead.

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Certification (certified). A type of authorization, issued by an inspector, evidencing freedom from infestation, to allow the movement of certain regulated articles in accordance with the regulations in this subpart. “Certified” shall be construed accordingly.

Commercial consignment. A lot of fruits or vegetables that an inspector identifies as having been produced for sale or distribution in mass markets. Such identification will be based on a variety of indicators, including, but not limited to: Quantity of produce, type of packaging, identification of grower and packinghouse on the packaging, and documents consigning the fruits or vegetables to a wholesaler or retailer.

Compliance agreement. Any agreement to comply with stipulated conditions as prescribed under §318.13-3 or §318.13-4 or §305.34 of this chapter, executed by any person to facilitate the interstate movement of regulated articles under this subpart.

Consignment. A quantity of plants, plant products, and/or other articles, including fruits or vegetables, being moved from one country to another and covered, when required, by a single certificate or limited permit (a consignment may be composed of one or more commodities or lots).

Continental United States. The 48 contiguous States, Alaska, and the District of Columbia.

Cut flower. Any cut blooms, fresh foliage, and dried decorative plant material customarily used in the florist trade and not for planting; and being the severed portion of a plant, including the inflorescence, and any parts of the plant attached thereto, in a fresh state.

Disinfection (disinfect and disinfected). The application to parts or all of a ship, vessel, other surface craft, or aircraft of a treatment that may be designated by the inspector as effective against such plant pests as may be present. (“Disinfect” and “disinfected” shall be construed accordingly.)

Fruits and vegetables. A commodity class for fresh parts of plants intended for consumption or processing and not planting.

Inspector. A State agricultural inspector or any individual authorized by the Administrator of APHIS or the Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security, to enforce the regulations in this subpart.

Interstate. From one State into or through any other State; or within the District of Columbia, Guam, the Virgin Islands of the United States, or any other territory or possession of the United States.

Limited permit. A document issued by an inspector or a person operating under a compliance agreement for the interstate movement of regulated articles to a specified destination for:

(1) Consumption, limited utilization or processing, or treatment; or

(2) Movement into or through the continental United States in conformity with a transit permit.

Lot. A number of units of a single commodity, identifiable by its homogeneity of composition and origin, forming all or part of a consignment.

Means of conveyance. A ship, truck, aircraft, or railcar.

Moved (move and movement). Shipped, offered for shipment to a common carrier, received for transportation or transported by a common carrier, or carried, transported, moved, or allowed to be moved, directly or indirectly, from Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marina Islands, or the U.S. Virgin Islands into or through the continental United States or any other State or territory of the United States (or from or into or through other places as specified in this subpart). “Move” and “movement” shall be construed accordingly.

Packing materials. Any plant or plant product, soil, or other substance associated with or accompanying any commodity or consignment to serve for filling, wrapping, ties, lining, mats, moisture retention, protection, or any other auxiliary purpose. The word “packing,” as used in the expression “packing materials,” includes the presence of such materials within, in contact with, or accompanying a consignment.

Person. Any individual, partnership, corporation, association, joint venture, or other legal entity.

Plant debris. Detached leaves, twigs, or other portions of plants, or plant litter or rubbish as distinguished from approved parts of clean fruits and vegetables, or other commercial articles.

Plant pests. 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 protozoan, nonhuman animal, parasitic plant, bacterium, fungus, virus or viroid, infectious agent or other pathogen, or any article similar to or allied with any of those articles.

Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ). The Plant Protection and Quarantine program of APHIS.

Regulated articles. Fruits or vegetables in the raw or unprocessed state; cut flowers; seeds; and plants or plant products for nonpropagative or propagative use.

Sealed (sealable) container. A completely enclosed container designed for the storage and/or transportation of commercial air, sea, rail, or truck cargo, and constructed of metal or fiberglass, or other similarly sturdy and impenetrable material, providing an enclosure accessed through doors that are closed and secured with a lock or seal. Sealed (sealable) containers used for sea consignments are distinct and separable from the means of conveyance carrying them when arriving in and in transit through the continental United States. Sealed (sealable) containers used for air consigments are distinct and separable from the means of conveyance carrying them before any transloading in the continental United States. Sealed (sealable) containers used for air consignments after transloading in the continental United States or for overland consignments in the continental United States may either be distinct and separable from the means of conveyance carrying them, or be the means of conveyance itself.

Soil. The loose surface material of the earth in which plants grow, in most cases consisting of disintegrated rock with an admixture of organic material and soluble salts.

State. 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.

Transit permit. A written authorization issued by the Administrator for the movement of fruits and vegetables en route to a foreign destination that are otherwise prohibited movement by this subpart into the continental United States. Transit permits authorize one or more consignments over a designated period of time.

Transloading. The transfer of cargo from one sealable container to another, from one means of conveyance to another, or from a sealable container directly into a means of conveyance.

United States. All of the States.

[74 FR 2775, Jan 16, 2009, as amended at 83 FR 46637, Sept. 14, 2018]