The statute defines a couple terms used in the disputed section. I have color coded them for ease of decipherment:
3) ENTER AND ENTRY.—The terms ‘‘enter’’ and ‘‘entry’’
mean to move into, or the act of movement into, the commerce
of the United States.
(4) EXPORT AND EXPORTATION.—The terms ‘‘export’’ and
‘‘exportation’’ mean to move from, or the act of movement
from, the United States to any place outside the United States.
(5) IMPORT AND IMPORTATION.—The terms ‘‘import’’ and
‘‘importation’’ mean to move into, or the act of movement into,
the territorial limits of the United States.
(6) INTERSTATE.—The term ‘‘interstate’’ means—
(A) from one State into or through any other State;
or
( B) within the District of Columbia, Guam, the Virgin
Islands of the United States, or any other territory or
possession of the United States.
(7) INTERSTATE COMMERCE.—The term ‘‘interstate commerce’’
means trade, traffic, or other commerce—
(A) between a place in a State and a point in another
State, or between points within the same State but through
any place outside that State; or
( B) within the District of Columbia, Guam, the Virgin
Islands of the United States, or any other territory or
possession of the United States.
(9) MOVE AND RELATED TERMS.—The terms ‘‘move’’,
‘‘moving’’, and ‘‘movement’’ mean—
- to carry, enter, import, mail, ship, or transport;
- to aid, abet, cause, or induce the carrying, entering, importing, mailing, shipping, or transporting;
- to offer to carry, enter, import, mail, ship, or transport;
- to receive to carry, enter, import, mail, ship, or transport;
- to release into the environment; or
- to allow any of the activities described in a preceding subparagraph.
The section under subsection (d) PROHIBITION OF UNAUTHORIZED MAILING OF PLANT PESTS is titled SEC. 411. REGULATION OF MOVEMENT OF PLANT PESTS, and states the following:
(a) PROHIBITION OF UNAUTHORIZED MOVEMENT OF PLANT
PESTS.—Except as provided in subsection [c], no person shall import,
enter, export, or move in interstate commerce any plant pest, unless
the importation, entry, exportation, or movement is authorized
under general or specific permit and is in accordance with such
regulations as the Secretary may issue to prevent the introduction
of plant pests into the United States or the dissemination of plant
pests within the United States.
If your interpretation is correct, then you must be forced to acknowledge that it is similarly "illegal" to pick up, or MOVE any bug (erm, "plant pest") in any state, and carry it to another place in the same state! ALL ANTKEEPING IS BANNED BECAUSE YOU MUST PICK THEM UP, AND THEREFORE MOVE THEM, WITHIN THE UNITED STATES!!! Further, because "MOVE" also means "to offer to carry, enter, import, mail, ship, or transport," then anyone offering to sell ants in the United States would be subject to criminal prosecution under the statute, and many topics in this forum and AntsCanada's GAN would be targeted for "aid[ing], abet[ing], cause[ing], or induce[ing] the carrying, entering, importing, mailing, shipping, or transporting" of plant pests—"within the United States!"
So let's review why this is not the case:
- Dissemination is defined as "to spread or disperse widely."
- "Into the United States" means to come from a place outside the United States, into the United States.
- Interstate means, as defined above, "from one State into or through any other State."
As an example, does a bug picked up in California, and moved or mailed to another address in California, ever leave the United States to come back into the United States, or does it travel into or through any other state? Of course it does not.
Ergo, no section in the PPA applies to the movement of plant pests from one part of a U.S. state to another part of the same U.S. state.
...I clearly shouldn't be a moderator.
The fact that you've gone on a tangent manufacturing this drama is what is at issue here, not simply the fact that you've misinterpreted this one statute.
In my view, the purpose of moderators is to keep the forum organized, user-friendly, and entertaining, to help resolve technical issues, and to ensure that all the rules and guidelines are followed. To accomplish these, moderators should:
- Request that a member alter or remove their posts as necessary
- Remove questionable posts from view, including posts and topics considered to be spam
- Move a post to an appropriate forum
- Close discussion on a thread, leaving previous replies intact but disallowing further discussion
- Issue warnings for breach of the rules and guidelines
- Suspend or ban members who violate the rules and guidelines of Formiculture.com
In contrast to what is occurring in this thread, most forums strongly frown upon public discussion of Moderator and Administrator actions and/or decisions, and as such, disallow such discussions. Questions or concerns are customarily handled through PM or email only.
Moderators and Administrators should not interfere unless it is absolutely necessary, and should make every effort to enforce the rules impartially. Moderators and Administrators should act according to the above guidelines, as a team and as individuals. As is custom, moderation actions should be discussed in the team before taking action.
Edited by drtrmiller, June 7 2017 - 8:58 AM.
