# RCW 17.24.007: RCW 17.24.007: Definitions > Washington · Statutes · In force URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WA_T17_C24_S007 ## Section - **Citation:** RCW 17.24.007 - **Heading:** RCW 17.24.007: Definitions - **Jurisdiction:** Washington - **Kind:** Statutes - **Status:** In force - **Text as of:** August 14, 2026 - **Source:** Compiled text - **Location:** Washington Code / Title 17 / Chapter 24 / Section 007 ## Text Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter. (1) "Department" means the state department of agriculture. (2) "Director" means the director of the state department of agriculture or the director's designee. (3) "Quarantine" means a rule issued by the department that prohibits or regulates the movement of articles, bees, plants, or plant products from designated quarantine areas within or outside the state to prevent the spread of disease, plant pathogens, or pests to nonquarantine areas. (4) "Plant pest" means a living stage of an insect, mite, nematode, slug, snail, or protozoa, or other invertebrate animal, bacteria, fungus, or parasitic plant, or their reproductive parts, or viruses, or an organism similar to or allied with any of the foregoing plant pests, including a genetically engineered organism, or an infectious substance that can directly or indirectly injure or cause disease or damage in plants or parts of plants or in processed, manufactured, or other products of plants. (5) "Plants and plant products" means trees, shrubs, vines, forage, and cereal plants, and all other plants and plant parts, including cuttings, grafts, scions, buds, fruit, vegetables, roots, bulbs, seeds, wood, lumber, and all products made from the plants and plant products. (6) "Certificate" or "certificate of inspection" means an official document certifying compliance with the requirements of this chapter. The term "certificate" includes labels, rubber stamp imprints, tags, permits, written statements, or a form of inspection and certification document that accompanies the movement of inspected and certified plant material and plant products, or bees, bee hives, or beekeeping equipment. (7) "Compliance agreement" means a written agreement between the department and a person engaged in growing, handling, or moving articles, plants, plant products, or bees, bee hives, or beekeeping equipment regulated under this chapter, in which the person agrees to comply with stipulated requirements. (8) "Distribution" means the movement of a regulated article from the property where it is grown or kept, to property that is not contiguous to the property, regardless of the ownership of the properties. (9) "Genetically engineered organism" means an organism altered or produced through genetic modification from a donor, vector, or recipient organism using recombinant DNA techniques, excluding those organisms covered by the food, drug and cosmetic act (21 U.S.C. Secs. 301-392). (10) "Person" means a natural person, individual, firm, partnership, corporation, company, society, or association, and every officer, agent, or employee of any of these entities. (11) "Sell" means to sell, to hold for sale, offer for sale, handle, or to use as inducement for the sale of another article or product. (12) "Noxious weed" means a living stage, including, but not limited to, seeds and reproductive parts, of a parasitic or other plant of a kind that presents a threat to Washington agriculture or environment. (13) "Regulated article" means a plant or plant product, bees or beekeeping equipment, noxious weed or other articles or equipment capable of harboring or transporting plant or bee pests or noxious weeds that is specifically addressed in rules or quarantines adopted under this chapter. (14) "Owner" means the person having legal ownership, possession, or control over a regulated article covered by this chapter including, but not limited to, the owner, shipper, consignee, or their agent. (15) "Nuisance" means a plant, or plant part, apiary, or property found in a commercial area on which is found a pest, pathogen, or disease that is a source of infestation to other properties. (16) "Bees" means adult insects, eggs, larvae, pupae, or other immature stages of the species Apis mellifera ered by this chapter including, but not limited to, the owner, shipper, consignee, or their agent. (15) "Nuisance" means a plant, or plant part, apiary, or property found in a commercial area on which is found a pest, pathogen, or disease that is a source of infestation to other properties. (16) "Bees" means adult insects, eggs, larvae, pupae, or other immature stages of the species Apis mellifera. (17) "Bee pests" means a mite, other parasite, or disease that causes injury to bees and those honey bees generally recognized to have undesirable behavioral characteristics such as or as found in Africanized honey bees. (18) "Biological control" means the use by humans of living organisms to control or suppress undesirable animals and plants; the action of parasites, predators, or pathogens on a host or prey population to produce a lower general equilibrium than would prevail in the absence of these agents. (19) "Biological control agent" means a parasite, predator, or pathogen intentionally released, by humans, into a target host or prey population with the intent of causing population reduction of that host or prey. (20) "Emergency" means a situation where there is an imminent danger of an infestation of plant pests or disease that seriously threatens the state's agricultural or horticultural industries or environment and that cannot be adequately addressed with normal procedures or existing resources. ## Nearby sections - [RCW 17.24.003 RCW 17.24.003: Purpose.](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WA_T17_C24_S003.md) - [RCW 17.24.007 RCW 17.24.007: Definitions.](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WA_T17_C24_S007.md) - [RCW 17.24.011 RCW 17.24.011: Regulation of plant, plant product, bee movement, and genetically engineered organisms.](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WA_T17_C24_S011.md) - [RCW 17.24.021 RCW 17.24.021: Inspection and investigation.](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WA_T17_C24_S021.md) - [RCW 17.24.031 RCW 17.24.031: Determination of origin.](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WA_T17_C24_S031.md) - [RCW 17.24.041 RCW 17.24.041: Power to adopt quarantine measures—Rules.](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WA_T17_C24_S041.md) - [RCW 17.24.051 RCW 17.24.051: Introduction of plant pests, noxious weeds, or organisms affecting plant life—Special transit permit for brush, yard waste, or debris generated inside a quarantine area for apple maggot.](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WA_T17_C24_S051.md) - [RCW 17.24.061 RCW 17.24.061: Protection of privileged or confidential information—Procedure—Notice—Declaratory judgment.](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WA_T17_C24_S061.md) - [RCW 17.24.071 RCW 17.24.071: Compliance agreements.](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WA_T17_C24_S071.md) - [RCW 17.24.081 RCW 17.24.081: Prohibited acts.](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WA_T17_C24_S081.md) - [RCW 17.24.091 RCW 17.24.091: Impound and disposition.](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WA_T17_C24_S091.md) - [RCW 17.24.100 RCW 17.24.100: Penalties—Second and subsequent offenses.](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WA_T17_C24_S100.md) - [RCW 17.24.101 RCW 17.24.101: Statewide survey and control activity.](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WA_T17_C24_S101.md) - [RCW 17.24.111 RCW 17.24.111: Director's cooperation with other agencies.](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WA_T17_C24_S111.md) --- Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WA_T17_C24_S007. Check the current official text before relying on it. Not legal advice.