Administrator. The Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, United States Department of Agriculture, or any other employee of the United States Department of Agriculture delegated to act in his or her stead.

APHIS. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, United States Department of Agriculture.

Commercial consignment. A lot of fruits or vegetables that an inspector identifies as having been imported for sale and distribution. Such identification will be based on a variety of indicators, including, but not limited to: Quantity of produce, type of packaging, identification of grower or packinghouse on the packaging, and documents consigning the fruits or vegetables to a wholesaler or retailer.

Commodity. A type of plant, plant product, or other regulated article being moved for trade or other purpose.

Consignment. A quantity of plants, plant products, and/or other articles, including fruits or vegetables, being moved from one country to another and covered, when required, by a single phytosanitary certificate (a consignment may be composed of one or more commodities or lots).

Continental United States. The 48 contiguous States, Alaska, and the District of Columbia.

Country of origin. Country where the plants from which the plant products are derived were grown.

Frozen fruit or vegetable. Any variety of raw fruit or vegetable preserved by commercially acceptable freezing methods in such a way that the commodity remains at −6.7 °C (20 °F) or below for at least 48 hours prior to release.

Fruits and vegetables. A commodity class for fresh parts of plants intended for consumption or processing and not for planting.

Import and importation. To move into, or the act of movement into, the territorial limits of the United States.

Inspector. Any individual authorized by the Administrator of APHIS or the Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security, to enforce the regulations in this subpart.

Lot. A number of units of a single commodity, identifiable by its homogeneity of composition and origin, forming all or part of a consignment.

National plant protection organization (NPPO). Official service established by a government to discharge the functions specified by the International Plant Protection Convention.

Noncommercial consignment. A lot of fruits or vegetables that an inspector identifies as having been imported for personal use and not for sale.

Permit. A written, oral, or electronically transmitted authorization to import fruits or vegetables in accordance with this subpart.

Phytosanitary certificate. A document, including electronic versions, that is related to a consignment and that:

(1) Is patterned after the model certificate of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), a multilateral convention on plant protection under the authority of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO);

(2) Is issued by an official of a foreign national plant protection organization in one of the five official languages of the FAO;

(3) Is addressed to the plant protection service of the United States (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service);

(4) Describes the consignment;

(5) Certifies the place of origin for all contents of the consignment;

(6) Certifies that the consignment has been inspected and/or tested according to appropriate official procedures and is considered to be free from quarantine pests of the United States;

(7) Contains any additional declarations required by this subpart; and

(8) Certifies that the consignment conforms with the phytosanitary requirements of the United States and is considered eligible for importation pursuant to the laws and regulations of the United States.

Phytosanitary measure. Any legislation, regulation, or official procedure having the purpose to prevent the introduction and/or spread of quarantine pests, or to limit the economic impact of regulated non-quarantine pests.

Plant litter and debris. Discarded or decaying organic matter; detached leaves, twigs, or stems that do not add commercial value to the product.

Port of first arrival. The first port within the United States where a consignment is offered for consumption entry or offered for entry for immediate transportation in bond.

Portions of plants. Stalks or stems, including the pediculus, pedicel, peduncle, raceme, or panicle, that are normally attached to fruits or vegetables.

Quarantine pest. A pest of potential economic importance to the area endangered by it and not yet present there, or present but not widely distributed there and being officially controlled.

United States. All of the States of the United States, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Virgin Islands of the United States, and any other territory or possession of the United States.