republic-os/legal/us/code/title-07/chapter-11/section-281.md

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LegalText	7 U.S.C. § 281	Honeybee importation	us	united_states_code	code_section	7	AGRICULTURE	11	HONEYBEES	281	7 U.S.C. § 281	current	119-100	2026-06-26	official	https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc07@119-100.zip	/us/usc/t7/s281	data/legal/raw/us/code/title-07/usc07.xml	5afe23d7ada7a2127d1653b10c9fd816caf2aa92fec9586549680714cb9b6e29	50edab1679a711653797362c0aeb8f2273303fe473fb7fa16df1ee76bdd6e984	381da633043ad13cddc4c823ff81aa51aa0957405fcfe622f83eb43b1ed369fa	2026-07-04	official	legal us-code

7 U.S.C. § 281 - Honeybee importation

Text

(a) In general The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to prohibit or restrict the importation or entry of honeybees and honeybee semen into or through the United States in order to prevent the introduction and spread of diseases and parasites harmful to honeybees, the introduction of genetically undesirable germ plasm of honeybees, or the introduction and spread of undesirable species or subspecies of honeybees and the semen of honeybees.

(b) Regulations The Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Treasury are each authorized to prescribe such regulations as the respective Secretary determines necessary to carry out this section.

(c) Enforcement Honeybees or honeybee semen offered for importation into, intercepted entering, or having entered the United States, other than in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Treasury, shall be destroyed or immediately exported.

(d) “Honeybee” defined As used in this chapter, the term “honeybee” means all life stages and the germ plasm of honeybees of the genus Apis, except honeybee semen.

(Aug. 31, 1922, ch. 301, § 1, 42 Stat. 833; Pub. L. 87–539, § 1, July 19, 1962, 76 Stat. 169; Pub. L. 94–319, § 1, June 25, 1976, 90 Stat. 709; Pub. L. 103–182, title III, § 361(d)(2), Dec. 8, 1993, 107 Stat. 2123; Pub. L. 103–465, title IV, § 431(e), Dec. 8, 1994, 108 Stat. 4968.)

Notes

Editorial Notes

Amendments1994—Pub. L. 103–465 amended section generally, substituting present provisions for former subsecs. (a) to (e) restricting importation of honeybees and honeybee semen into United States, providing for promulgation of rules and regulations as to such importation, providing for destruction or immediate exportation of nonexcepted honeybees or honeybee semen offered for import or intercepted, and defining “honeybee”. 1993—Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 103–182, § 361(d)(2)(A), added par. (3). Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 103–182, § 361(d)(2)(B), inserted “(1)” after “only from” and added cl. (2). 1976—Pub. L. 94–319 incorporated existing provisions, which related only to honeybees, into subsecs. (a) to (e) relating to honeybees and honeybee semen, making honeybee provisions applicable to all life stages and the germ plasm of honeybees instead of only to honeybees in the adult stage, restating purpose of prohibiting importation of honeybees and restating conditions to be determined by Secretary of Agriculture with respect to countries from which honeybees may be imported. 1962—Pub. L. 87–539 enlarged prohibition against importation of honeybees to include the honeybee of the genus Apis instead of only the honeybee Apis mellifica and restricted permission to import the honeybee to countries which take adequate precautions to prevent importation of honeybees from countries where dangerous diseases exist.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 1994 AmendmentAmendment 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.

Short TitleAct Aug. 31, 1922, as amended, which is classified to this chapter, is popularly known as the “Honeybee Act”.

Transfer of Functions For transfer of functions of the Secretary of Agriculture relating to agricultural import and entry inspection activities under this section to the Secretary of Homeland Security, and for treatment of related references, see sections 231, 551(d), 552(d), and 557 of Title 6, Domestic Security, and the Department of Homeland Security Reorganization Plan of November 25, 2002, as modified, set out as a note under section 542 of Title 6.