28 BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY AND PLANT QUARANTINE [Jan.-March 
IMPORTATION OF PLANT PRODUCTS BY MAIL (T. D. 48181) 
Revised Regulations Governing the Joint Treatment of Such Importations 
Under the Plant Quarantine Act by Plant Quarantine Inspectors, Cus- 
toms Officers, and Postmasters— T. D. 40363, T. D. 40753, and T. D. 41562 
Superseded. 
Treasury Department, 
Office of the Commissioner of Customs. 
Washington, D. C. 
To Collectors of Customs and Others Concerned: 
1. Under various orders, quarantines, and regulations promulgated by the 
Secretary of Agriculture under authority of the Plant Quarantine Act of August 
liO, 1912 (37 Stat. 315), as amended, the entry into the United States of cer- 
tain plants and plant products is prohibited or restricted. (See United States 
Official Postal Guide, July 1935, section 49, pages 233-234 and also articles 389 
and 559 to 565 inclusive of the Customs Regulations of 1931.) As an aid in 
enforcing these or subsequent orders, quarantines, and regulations, provisions 
have been made by the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine of the 
United States Department of Agriculture, concurrently with the Postal and 
Customs Services, to insure closer inspection of such importations. 
2. Inspectors of the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine and cus- 
toms officers are stationed at the following post offices: 
Atlanta, Ga. Hidalpro, Tex. Philadelphia, Pa. 
Baltimore, Md. Honolulu, T. H. Port Arthur, Tex. 
Bellingham, Wash. Houston. Tex. Portland, Oreg. 
Blaine. Wash. Jacksonville, Fla. Presidio, Tex. 
Boston, Mass. Key West, Fla. Rio Grande City, Tex. 
Brownsville, Tex. Laredo, Tex. Roma, Tex. 
Buffalo, N. Y. Los Angeles, Calif. St. Paul, Minn. 
Calexico, Calif. (including San Pedro) San Diego, Calif. 
Charleston, S. C. Miami, Fla. San Francisco, Calif. 
Chicago. 111. Mobile, Ala. San Juan, P. R. 
Del Rio, Tex. Naco. Ariz. San Ysidro, Calif. 
Detroit, Mich. New Orleans, La. Savannah. Ga. 
Douglas, Ariz. New York, N. Y. Seattle, Wash. 
Eagle Pass, Tex. Nogales, Ariz. Tampa, Fla. 
El Paso, Tex. Norfolk, Va. Washington. D. C. 
Galveston, Tex. Pensacola, Fla. 
3. All parcel post or other mail packages from foreign countries which, either 
from examination or external evidence, are found to contain plants or plant 
products shall be dispatched for submission, or actually submitted, to the plant 
quarantine inspector (article 564 (e), Customs Regulations of 1931) at the most 
accessible of the foregoing places, who shall pass upon the contents, under the 
Plant Quarantine Act, and with the cooperation of the customs and postal 
officers, either (1) release the package from further plant-quarantine examina- 
tion and indorse his decision thereon; or (2) divert it to Washington, D. C, San 
Francisco, Calif., or Seattle, Wash., for disposition. If so diverted, the plant- 
quarantine inspector shall attach to the package the yellow-and-green special 
mailing tag addressed to the proper quarantine station. The package should 
also be accompanied by customs card form 3511 and transmitted in accordance 
with the appropriate provisions of article 367 (a) (JR 12a) of the Customs 
Regulations of 1931. 
4. The customs officers at San Francisco, Calif., Seattle, Wash., and Washing- 
ton, D. C, shall keep a record of such packages as may be delivered to represent- 
atives of the Department of Agriculture, and upon the return thereof shall 
prepare mail entry to accompany the dutiable package and deliver it to the 
postmaster for delivery or onward dispatch ; or in appropriate cases subject the 
shipment to formal customs-entry procedure. 
5. The plant-quarantine inspector may require the entire shipment to be re- 
turned to the country of origin as a prohibited importation, in which event he 
shall indorse his action thereon and deliver the shipment over to the collector 
of customs, who shall in turn deliver it to the postmaster for dispatch to the 
country of origin. If the plant material, upon examination, is deemed dangerous 
to plant life, the collector of customs shall permit the plant-quarantine inspector 
to destroy immediately both the container and contents. In either case the plant- 
quarantine inspector shall notify the addressee of the action taken and tie 
reason therefor. If the objectionable plant material forms only a portion of the 
contents of the mail package and in the judgment of the inspector the package 
can safely be delivered to the addressee, after removing and destroying the 
