Mississippi Administrative Code › Title 2 - Agriculture and Commerce › Part 1 - Rules of the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce › Subpart 3 - Bureau of Plant Industry › Chapter 01 - Plant Diseases, Insects and Weeds › Imported Fire Ant Quarantine › Section 2-1-3-01-132

Current through June 25, 2024
Whereas it has been determined that the destructive
						insects known as the black imported fire ant,
Solenopsis
						richteri
Forel and the red imported fire ant
Solenopsis
						invicta
Buren formerly
Solenopsis saevissima richteri
Forel have been established in the State of Mississippi and under provisions of
Miss. Code Ann.
§
											69-25-9,
						have been declared to be public nuisance. Therefore, the Director, Bureau of
						Plant Industry, Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce, by virtue
						of powers vested in him by the Commissioner, by authority granted under
Miss. Code Ann.
§
											69-25-7,
						does establish a quarantine to prevent the spread of the imported fire ant and
						under provisions of
Miss. Code Ann.
§
											69-25-25,
						does declare and give public notice of the establishment of a quarantine as set
						forth in the following subsections
1.
Definitions.
For the purpose of this quarantine and
					 regulations, the following shall be construed respectively to mean:
a.
Approved
					 establishment
. Any establishment where the operator enters into a
					 compliance agreement.
b.
Certificate
. A document issued or authorized to be
					 issued by an inspector to allow the movement of regulated articles to any
					 destination.
c.
Commissioner
. The commissioner of the Mississippi
					 Department of Agriculture and Commerce.
d.
Compacted soil
.
					 Soil attached to equipment that cannot be removed by brisk brushing and/or
					 washing with water under normal city water pressure.
e.
Compliance
					 agreement
. A written agreement executed with persons engaged in
					 purchasing, assembling, exchanging, handling, processing, utilizing, treating
					 or moving regulated articles and the Bureau of Plant Industry and/or its
					 cooperators, wherein the former agrees to comply with the requirements
					 identified in the agreement by the inspector or employee who executes the
					 agreement on behalf of the Bureau of Plant Industry and/or its cooperators
					 applicable to the operations of such person.
f.
Director
.
					 Executive Secretary and Director and/or State Entomologist of the Bureau of
					 Plant Industry, Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce.
g.
Infestation
. The
					 presence of the imported fire ant or the existence of circumstances that make
					 it reasonable to believe the imported fire ant is present.
h.
Inspector
. Any
					 authorized employee of the Bureau of Plant Industry, Mississippi Department of
					 Agriculture and Commerce, its cooperators or any other person authorized by the
					 Commissioner or the Director of the Bureau of Plant Industry to enforce the
					 provisions of the quarantine and regulations.
i.
Mechanized soil-moving
					 equipment
. Mechanized equipment used to move or transport soil,
					 e.g., draglines, bulldozers, road scrapers, and dump trucks.
j.
Moved, movement,
					 move
. Shipped, deposited for transmission in the soil, offered for
					 shipment, received for transportation, carried, otherwise transported or moved,
					 by any means whatsoever, by any person, directly or indirectly.
k.
Permit
. A
					 document issued or authorized to be issued by an inspector to allow the
					 movement of noncertified regulated articles to a specified destination for
					 particular handling, utilization or processing, or for treatment.
l.
Person
. This term
					 includes any corporation, partnership, firm, company, joint stock, company,
					 society, or association, as well as any individual.
m.
Pest
. The insect
					 known as the imported fire ant, two species
Solenopsis
					 richteri
Forel and
Solenopsis invicta
Buren in any
					 state of development.
n.
Regulated articles
. Imported fire ants, soil and other
					 products and articles of any character whatsoever, the movement of which is
					 regulated by this quarantine.
o.
Regulated or quarantined areas
. Any area hereafter
					 described or designated as regulated.
p.
Scientific
					 permit
. A document issued by the Director and/or State
					 Entomologist or by USDA to allow the movement to a specific destination of
					 regulated articles for scientific purposes.
q.
Soil
. Soil shall
					 be considered that part of the upper layer of earth in which plants can
					 grow.