--- kind: "range" citation: "7 C.F.R. §§ 29.400–29.500" title: "7" from: "29.400" to: "29.500" count: 11 url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/7/29.400..29.500" --- # §29.400. Inspection, certification, and testing of imported tobacco. Tobacco offered for importation into the United States, including tobacco entering foreign trade zones shall upon request be inspected for grade and/or pesticide testing. # §29.401. Definitions. As used in [§§ 29.400 through 29.500](/cfr/7/29.400..29.500.md), the words and phrases hereinafter defined shall have the following meanings: - (a) **Importation.** Arriving within the territorial limits of the United States with the intent to unload. - (b) **Importer.** The owner of the tobacco at the time of importation or the owner's successor in interest if the tobacco is sold prior to the completion of the requirements of [§§ 29.400 through 29.500](/cfr/7/29.400..29.500.md). - (c) **Inspection certificate.** An official written representation of a lot of tobacco made by an inspector and issued to an importer. - (d) **Invoice.** A writing on behalf of the importer that is used in commercial transactions of tobacco for selling, purchasing, shipping, or consigning. - (e) **Lot.** A unit of shipment of tobacco encompassed by a single invoice. - (f) **Package.** A hogshead, carton, case, bale, or other securely enclosed parcel or bundle. - (g) **Packing list.** A document itemizing each package covered by a single invoice listing, among other things, the kind of tobacco in each package, the net weight, and the marks and numbers identifying each package. - (h) **Point of entry.** The place at the port of entry or foreign trade zone where tobacco is unloaded from a carrier or unpacked from a container for the purpose of warehousing, manipulation, or manufacturing. - (i) **Port of entry.** Any place designated by Executive order of the President, by order of the Secretary of the Treasury, or by Act of Congress, at which a customs officer is authorized to accept entries of merchandise, to collect duties, and to enforce the various provisions of the Customs and Navigation Laws. The term “port of entry” incorporates the geographical area under the jurisdiction of the port director when such port is one other than a district headquarters port. - (j) **Tobacco.** Tobacco between the time it is cured and stripped from the stalk or primed and cured, in whole leaf or unmanufactured form, and the time it is utilized in product manufacturing. Conditioning, sweating, stemming, and threshing are not considered manufacturing. - (k) **Transshipped tobacco.** Tobacco that arrives within the territorial limits of the United States for the purpose of continuous transportation without being unloaded for warehousing, manipulation, or manufacturing, to a destination outside the territorial limits of the United States. - (l) **Unload.** To remove from a carrier at the port of entry or at a foreign trade zone. - (m) [Reserved] - (n) **Pesticide.** Any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any pest, and any substance or mixture of substances intended for use as a plant regulator, defoliant, or desiccant. - (o) [Reserved] - (p) **Prohibited pesticide residue.** The maximum concentration of residue allowable for a specific pesticide or combination of pesticides as set forth in [§ 29.427](/cfr/7/29.427.md). - (q) **Stems.** The midribs or large central veins of tobacco leaves. - (r) **Pesticide test sample.** An official sample or samples, collected from a lot of tobacco by the Secretary of Agriculture for analysis by a certified chemist to ascertain the residue levels of banned pesticides. - (s) **Sample Identification Form.** A document approved by the Director that identifies and accompanies the sample to the testing facility on which the test results will be certified by a chemist in charge of testing. - (t) [Reserved] - (u) **Testing.** The chemical analysis of a pesticide test sample to determine levels of pesticide residues. - (v) [Reserved] - (w) **Reexported.** Any imported tobacco not used to manufacture tobacco products that is subsequently exported. - (x) **Blended.** Tobacco that is combined or mixed into a uniform product. - (y) **Leaves.** Whole, undivided tobacco leaves containing lamina and stem. - (z) **Strips.** The sides (including portions of sides) of tobacco leaf from which the stem has been removed or a lot of tobacco composed of strips. # §29.402. Advance notice. The importer shall notify, orally or in writing, the Director, of the date and location that tobacco subject to inspection under [§ 29.400](/cfr/7/29.400.md) will be unloaded for warehousing, manipulation, or manufacturing. This notice shall be received at least five working days prior to unloading the tobacco for warehousing, manipulation, or manufacturing. # §29.403. Accessibility of tobacco. All tobacco subject to inspection under [§ 29.400](/cfr/7/29.400.md) shall be made accessible by the importer for examination in a manner prescribed by the inspector. This includes providing proper lighting, removal of package coverings, and such other provisions as the inspector may deem necessary for inspection. # §29.404. Inspection. The inspector shall review each lot of tobacco through a process of selective sampling in sufficient detail to allow an accurate determination of the types and grades contained in each lot. # §29.405. Inspection by submitted samples. The Director, in lieu of onsite inspection, may approve submission by the importer of samples where time, geographical distance, or availability of inspectors prevent a timely onsite inspection, or where tobacco is classified as a “temporary importation under bond” as defined in [19 CFR 10.31](/cfr/19/10.31.md) et seq. The importer shall certify that sampling was conducted in accordance with procedures approved by the Director. All tobacco inspected by submitted sample is subject to spot-checking at the discretion of the Director. Submitted samples shall be disposed of in a manner approved by the Director unless return of the sample is requested by the importer at the time of submission. Samples will only be returned at the importer's expense. # §29.426. Collection of pesticide test samples. Any lot of tobacco not certified by the importer as being free of prohibited pesticide residues shall upon request be sampled in sufficient detail to determine whether the lot conforms with the pesticide residue standards. # §29.427. Pesticide residue standards. The maximum concentration of residues of the following pesticides allowed in flue-cured or burley tobacco, expressed as parts by weight of the residue per one million parts by weight of the tobacco (ppm) are: # §29.428. Identification of sample for testing. Samples of imported tobacco shall be identified by the inspector on a form approved by the Director. The original and first two copies shall accompany the sample to the designated testing facility. The remaining copy of the identification form will be sent to the Director. Upon the completion of testing the designated facility will complete the form and mail the original and one copy to the Director and retain one copy for their records. # §29.430. Appeals. Requests for resampling for the purpose of appeals of test results for imported tobacco must be communicated to the Director within 30 days from the receipt of notification. The statement must specify in detail the relief requested. The importer or entity requesting the appeal will bear the cost of any subsequent sampling and testing. Subsequent samples will be selected only from tobacco which is in the original package and from tobacco which has not been mixed, blended, or altered in any manner since the initial sampling. # §29.500. Fees and charges for inspection and acceptance of imported tobacco. The fee for inspection of imported tobacco will be determined as described in [§ 29.123](/cfr/7/29.123.md) and shall be paid by the importer.