CBP Final Rule to End Blanket Certifications for TSCA Imports as Planned
Despite some industry objections to CBP's proposal to end the use of "blanket certification" under Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) regulations (see 1608260032), the agency declined to stray from those plans in the final rule, it said in a notice (here). Blanket certifications are used to indicate either TSCA applicability or not -- called a "negative certification" -- for a wide range of products subject to Environmental Protection Agency reporting requirements. Commenters on the proposed changes said the end to blanket certification seems to go against the ongoing efforts to streamline trade processing (see 1609300031). The final rule is effective Jan. 26.
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CBP expects any issues created by the end of blanket certifications to be short lived, it said. "CBP is aware that the transition from the paper-based system with blanket certifications to an electronic system without blanket certifications may present short-term challenges for filers and importers," it said. "However, efforts to preserve the blanket certification process in combination with electronic filing th[r]ough ACE would actually restrict the system as a whole from achieving maximum efficiency as it would require all filers to undergo extra steps in the [Partner Government Agency (PGA)] message set to input information regarding whether the importer had a blanket certification on file, and for which ports."
The agencies also maintained a requirement that contact information be provided in ACE at each line entry for entries subject to positive or negative TSCA certification. CBP and EPA need the information in order to contact the certifying individual if necessary, CBP said. "This requirement may create additional clerical work for filers," CBP said. However, ACE will allow the requested information to be entered once at the header level using the PG00 record within the PGA Message Set, and then populated under each entry line where specified."
CBP will make some changes from the proposal to clarify the descriptions and scopes involved, it said. For example, the phrase "chemicals not subject to TSCA" will be changed to "TSCA-excluded chemicals," it said. The agency also revised the definitions for different types of TSCA chemical substances, it said. "These definitions are revised and added to clarify that the certification obligations apply to both chemical substances and mixtures that are subject to TSCA, which require a positive certification, as well as those chemicals and mixtures that are not subject to TSCA, which require a negative certification (unless clearly identified as a TSCA-excluded chemical), and to ensure that terms used in the regulatory text are defined when necessary, it said.
The agencies are also aware of possible discrepancies involved in Foreign-Trade Zone entry estimate filing and TSCA imports. There may be occasions where a TSCA negative certification is issued by the importer in the weekly estimate, and yet the weekly summary reflects that TSCA chemical substances were in fact imported," CBP said. The agencies "will address importers that demonstrate systematic or egregious discrepancies between weekly estimates and weekly summaries on a case-by-case basis and through available enforcement and compliance practices." Once CBP has added ACE functionality to allow for PGA message set elements as goods are admitted to FTZs through the e-214 process, it will also consider whether the Notice of Arrival should be filed at time of admission into an FTZ, CBP said.
(Federal Register 12/27/16)