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Enforcement of Lacey Act Declaration for Certain HTS Chapter 44 Items May be Delayed for Rail and Truck

According to several sources, U.S. Customs and Border Protection may soon announce a one month delay - until May 1, 2009 - of its enforcement of the Lacey Act Amendments declaration requirement for certain wood and wood articles classified in HTS Chapter 44 that are imported by rail or truck.

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Lacey Act Enforcement for Air and Sea Modes Would be Implemented on Time

CBP is still expected to enforce the Lacey Act Amendments declaration requirement for affected HTS Chapter 44 articles imported by air or sea on April 1, 2009 as previously announced.

(A recent CBP PowerPoint presentation and officials' comments had indicated that for importations where the Lacey Act Amendments declaration was being enforced, initially certain HTS Chapter 44 articles, filers would not be able to utilize BRASS (Border Release Advanced Screening and Selectivity) or Line Release. When this was mentioned to officials at the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), these officials had noted that certain issues regarding Lacey Act declaration enforcement were still fluid (subject to change). See ITT's Online Archives or 03/20/09 news, 09032005 for BP summary.)

(See ITT's Online Archives or 03/25/09 news, 09032515 and 09032540, for BP summaries on revised directions for completing and mailing in the paper Lacey Act declaration PPQ 505 form and the use of the GRIN taxonomy guide as an aid in determining the proper genus and species of a plant or plant product.)

CBP Expected to Issues Enforcement Instructions for Lacey Act Declaration Soon

During the week that ended March 20, 2009, CBP had posted an initial set of trade instructions for enforcing the Lacey Act declaration that stated it expected to be prepared to accept declaration data through ABI beginning April 1, 2009, and that CBP expected most importers to use the electronic system to file the declaration. (See ITT's Online Archives or 03/20/09 news, 09032010, for BP summary on sample PGA CATAIR message sets for declaration.)

Lacey Amendments Web page available at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/lacey_act/index.shtml