[ Act No. 2515., February 05, 1915 ]

AN ACT TO PREVENT THE EXPORTATION OF INFESTED OR DISEASED PLANT MATERIAL FROM, AND THE INTRODUCTION OF PLANT PESTS AND DISEASES INTO, THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE CONTROL OF SUCH PLANT PESTS AND DISEASES AS MAY ALREADY EXIST THEREIN.

By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Legislature, that:

SECTION 1. The exportation from and the importation into the Philippine Islands of all plant material or parts thereof or of any material whatsoever which may be used for packing material or covering thereof is hereby prohibited except through such ports as may be designated by and subject to such rules and regulations as may from time to time be prescribed by the Director of Agriculture and approved by the Secretary of Public Instruction.

SECTION. 2. The Director of Agriculture shall, subject to the approval of the Secretary of Public Instruction, make and enforce such rules and regulations as he may deem necessary to protect the agricultural interests in any district infested or infected with any injurious or dangerous plant pest or disease which may heretofore have become established or which hereafter is liable to become a menace to said interests.

SECTION. 3. The sum of three thousand pesos Philippine currency is hereby appropriated, out of any funds in the Insular Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to provide the necessary apparatus, chemicals, or other equipment which may be necessary for the proper enforcement of this Act: of Provided, That said funds shall not be used for work specified in this section which must and can be done by the Bureau of Science.

SECTION. 4. Any person found guilty of an offense against this Act or any regulation issued hereunder shall be punished by a fine not to exceed two hundred pesos, or imprisonment for a period not to exceed thirty days, or both, in the discretion of the court.

SECTION. 5. Act Numbered Twenty-one hundred and forty-five is hereby repealed.

SECTION. 6. This Act shall take effect upon its passage.

Enacted, February 5, 1915.