§150cc. Mailing of pests; opening of mail; exception

(a) Any letter, parcel, box, or other package containing any plant pest, whether sealed as letter-rate postal matter or not, is nonmailable, and shall not knowingly be conveyed in the mail or delivered from any post office or by any mail carrier, unless it is mailed in conformance with such regulations as the Secretary may promulgate to prevent the dissemination into the United States, or interstate, of plant pests.

(b) Nothing in this chapter shall authorize any person to open any letter or other sealed matter except in accordance with the postal laws and regulations.

(c) The prohibitions of this chapter shall not apply to any employee of the United States in the performance of his duties in handling mail.

( Pub. L. 85–36, title I, §104, May 23, 1957, 71 Stat. 32 ; Pub. L. 100–449, title III, §301(f)(2), Sept. 28, 1988, 102 Stat. 1869 ; Pub. L. 103–465, title IV, §431(c)(2), Dec. 8, 1994, 108 Stat. 4967 .)

References in Text

In the original, "this chapter" was "this Act". See note set out under section 150aa of this title.

Amendments

1994-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 103–465, §431(c)(2)(A), amended subsec. (a) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (a) read as follows: "Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, any letter, parcel, box, or other package containing any plant pest, whether sealed as letter-rate postal matter or not, is declared to be nonmailable, and will not knowingly be conveyed in the mail or delivered from any post office or by any mail carrier, except when accompanied by a copy of a permit issued under this chapter."

Subsecs. (b) to (d). Pub. L. 103–465, §431(c)(2)(B), (C), redesignated subsecs. (c) and (d) as (b) and (c), respectively, and struck out former subsec. (b) which read as follows: "Any letter, parcel, box, or other package from Canada containing any plant pest, whether sealed as letter-rate postal matter or not, is declared to be nonmailable, and shall not knowingly be conveyed in the mail or delivered from any post office or by any mail carrier, except in accordance with such regulations as the Secretary may promulgate under this section to prevent the dissemination into the United States of plant pests."

1988-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 100–449, §301(f)(2)(A), substituted "Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, any letter" for "Any letter".

Subsecs. (b) to (d). Pub. L. 100–449, §301(f)(2)(B), (C), added subsec. (b) and redesignated former subsecs. (b) and (c) as (c) and (d), respectively.

Effective Date of 1994 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 103–465 effective on the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement with respect to the United States (Jan. 1, 1995), except as otherwise provided, see section 451 of Pub. L. 103–465, set out as an Effective Date note under section 3601 of Title 19, Customs Duties.

Effective and Termination Dates of 1988 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 100–449 effective on date United States-Canada Free-Trade Agreement enters into force (Jan. 1, 1989), and to cease to have effect on date Agreement ceases to be in force, see section 501(a), (c) of Pub. L. 100–449, set out in a note under section 2112 of Title 19, Customs Duties.

Section Referred to in Other Sections

This section is referred to in title 39 section 3015.