Infested Articles into Nebraska

 
TO ALL AFFECTED PERSONS:

You are hereby notified that the Nebraska Department of Agriculture (Department) is amending the quarantine on the importation of any grain or seed originating in areas infested with Karnal bunt issued on May 1, 1996 pursuant to the Plant Protection and Plant Pest Act, Neb.Rev. Stat. §§2-l072 to 2-10,117 (Act). This amended quarantine shall replace the previous quarantine.

Sections 2-1091 and 2-10,108 provide that for the enforcement of the Act, the Department may issue a quarantine:

Whenever the Department finds that there exists, in any other state, territory, country, or part thereof, any plant pests detrimental to the agricultural interests of the state and that the control, eradication, retarding, or prevention of such pests is necessary to protect the plant industry of the state, the Department may impose and enforce a quarantine prohibiting the transportation into, within, or through Nebraska of such pests. Quarantine enforcement shall apply to any plants or any other property capable of carrying such plant pests.

The United States Department of Agriculture - Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Plant Protection and Quarantine (USDA/APHIS/PPQ) has advised the Department that the wheat disease, Karnal bunt, had been detected in Maricopa County, Yuma County, Pinal County, and La Paz County, Arizona; Dona Ana County, Hidalgo County, Luna County, and Sierra County, New Mexico; Throckmorton County, Young County, McCulloch County, San Saba County, El Paso County, Hudspeth County, Archer County, Baylor County, Texas; and Imperial County, and Riverside County, California.

Karnal bunt is a crop damaging wheat disease that not only causes damage to wheat crops, but also places at risk the ability of Nebraska producers to produce and sell their wheat crops. In order to protect Nebraska wheat production areas from Karnal bunt and because countries importing wheat from the United States can and have refused to buy wheat from areas which have confirmed infestations of Karnal bunt and because emergency quarantines have been imposed on farms in the United States which have been identified as producing wheat infested with Karnal bunt, the Department finds it necessary to impose a quarantine.

This amended quarantine will be effective on July 2, 2001. The specific requirements of the quarantine are as follows:

1. Except as otherwise provided herein, no person, firm, corporation or other entity shall import, plant, receive for delivery, or otherwise accept or bring into the state of Nebraska from any Karnal bunt infested area designated by USDA/APHIS/PPQ, any articles regulated pursuant to 7 CFR Part 301, including but not limited to, plants or plant parts (including grain, seed or straw) of wheat, durum wheat and triticale; soil from where field crops are produced; trucks and railroad cars used to move wheat; and, equipment used to plant, harvest and process wheat.
2. Paragraph 1 above does not apply when the importation or receipt of delivery of quarantined grain and seeds is done under the following conditions:
1. That the grain or seed is officially sampled in the state or county of origin and tested by an official laboratory approved by USDA/APHIS/PPQ and found to be free from Karnal bunt. These procedures shall follow all accepted phytosanitary certification standards and shall occur prior to shipment into the state of Nebraska.
2. Each shipment shall be accompanied by a state phytosanitary certificate stating compliance with this quarantine.
3. Paragraph 1 above does not apply to quarantined grain and seed being transported in enclosed containers through Nebraska in interstate or international commerce.
4. Paragraph 1 above does not apply to regulated articles such as trucks and railroad cars used to move wheat and equipment used to plant, harvest and process wheat if USDA/ APHIS/PPQ has issued a 540 permit, a state has issued a certificate for the regulated article, or the Department determines the regulated article is free from Karnal bunt.
5. Section 2-10,115 of the Act provides that any person shall be guilty of a Class IV misdemeanor for a first violation and a Class II misdemeanor for a subsequent violation of the same nature if that person distributes plants which have been quarantined or are in a quarantined area or violates any other provision of the Act.

The Department has issued this quarantine because it finds that the potential movement of Karnal bunt into Nebraska presents imminent peril to the wheat production industry. Therefore, to ensure that infested regulated articles will not enter Nebraska, the Department determines it is necessary to make this quarantine effective immediately.

Any person affected by this quarantine may request a hearing before the Department. Such requests should be made in writing to:

The Nebraska Department of Agriculture
301 Centennial Mall South
P.O. Box 94756
Lincoln, NE 68509

This quarantine is effective until the Department determines that the standards set forth in §2-l0,l08 no longer apply to the importation of Karnal bunt infested regulated articles into Nebraska.

NEBRASKA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE