319.55-6—Inspection and disinfection at port of arrival.

(a) Paddy rice. All importations of seed or paddy rice from Mexico shall be subject, as a condition of entry, to such inspection or disinfection in accordance with part 305 of this chapter, or both, at the port of arrival, as shall be required by the inspector, and to the delivery to the collector of customs by the inspector of a written notice that the seed or paddy rice has been inspected and found to be apparently free from plant diseases and insect pests or that the required treatment has been given. Should any shipment of such seed or paddy rice be found to be so infested with insect pests or infected with plant diseases that, in the judgment of the inspector, it cannot be cleaned by disinfection or other treatment in accordance with part 305 of this chapter, the entire shipment may be refused entry.
(b) Rice straw and rice hulls. (1) As a condition of entry, rice straw and rice hulls shall be subject to inspection and to treatment in accordance with part 305 of this chapter at the port of arrival, under the supervision of the inspector, by methods and at plants approved by the Plant Protection and Quarantine Programs and, as a further condition of entry, in order to permit effective treatment, the contents of packages or bales shall not be compressed to a density of more than 30 pounds per cubic foot. Rice straw and rice hulls will be admitted only at ports where adequate facilities are available for such treatment. The required treatment must be given within 20 days after arrival, but if any shipment of rice straw or rice hulls shall be found upon arrival to be dangerously infested or infected the inspector may direct immediate treatment under adequate safeguards; and, if the treatment and safeguards are not put into effect as directed, the shipment shall be removed from the country immediately or destroyed.
(2) Unless, within 20 days after the date of arrival of a shipment at the port at which the formal entry was filed, the importation has received the required treatment, due notice of which shall be given to the collector of customs by the inspector, demand will be made by the collector for redelivery of the shipment into customs custody under the terms of the entry bond, and, if such redelivery is not made, the shipment shall be removed from the country or destroyed.
(c) General. (1) All charges for storage, cartage, and labor incident to inspection and disinfection, other than the services of the inspector, shall be paid by the importer.
(2) All shipments shall be so baled, bagged, or wrapped as to prevent scattering or wastage. If, in the judgment of the inspector, a shipment is not so bagged, baled, or wrapped, it shall be reconditioned at the expense of the permittee or entry may be refused.

Code of Federal Regulations

[24 FR 10788, Dec. 29, 1959, as amended at 75 FR 4252, Jan. 26, 2010]