Plant quarantine laws regulate the movement both of plants and of other materials that may carry a plant disease or insect pest. The reason for the quarantine is to keep the disease or insect from spreading from infested areas. Some plant quarantine laws list plants that may not be shipped in and out of a locality. Such laws may also give directions for moving, packing, and labeling.
In a quarantine, officials may examine all plants at the border of the quarantined area and keep out the dangerous types. Other laws merely require an inspection of the plants or the place where they were grown.
Foreign plant quarantines control the shipping of plants from other countries. Such quarantines include those intended to keep out citrus canker disease, the Mediterranean fruit fly, and the khapra beetle. Domestic quarantines control plant movements from place to place within the country. They protect against stem rust, the spongy moth, the Japanese beetle, the pink bollworm, and the white-fringed beetle.
In the United States, local, state, and federal governments may quarantine plants. The federal government’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service helps enforce quarantines of plants that may carry diseases or insect pests.
