R.I. Gen. Laws § 2-18.1-4: Inspection of nursery stock before sale or distribution.

It is unlawful for any person to sell, to offer for sale, to distribute or cause to be distributed from a nursery or other premises, any nursery stock, until the nursery stock has been officially inspected by the director and certified as apparently free from injurious insects and plant diseases, or unless there has been issued with regard to that nursery stock, by an authorized plant regulatory official of another state, or the federal government, a valid certificate attesting to freedom from injurious insects and plant diseases.