AMS to Use Central Online Portal for Electronic Organic Import Certificate Filing Next Year
The Agricultural Marketing Service is in the process of writing a final rule to require electronic filing of certificates for organic products at entry, among other provisions intended to strengthen organic enforcement, said Jennifer Tucker, AMS deputy administrator, at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America annual conference May 5.
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The agency got a “range” of public comments on its proposed rule issued last fall, and has completed reviewing those comments, Tucker said. After the final rule is written and any revisions are made, U.S. Department of Agriculture stakeholders will review it before its goes through the interagency clearance process at the Office of Management and Budget, which will involve CBP, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and other interested agencies.
Besides electronic filing, the final rule will also end exemptions for some uncertified handlers of organic products. The agency will allow for an implementation period following publication of its final rule so handlers can get certified if they weren’t previously required to do so, Tucker said.
Once in place, electronic filing of certificates will involve a new Global Import and Export Certificate Portal the agency has termed “Global,” said Jonathan Veley, director of Trade Systems at AMS. Organic certification bodies will be able to log in to generate certificate data for the exporter or final handler of organic products. That exporter will then provide the certificate to the importer or broker, who will in turn file it along with entry data in ACE. AMS will then be able to validate the data it received against the original certificate data provided by the certifier in a database, Veley said.
AMS is working on tariff schedule flags for organic products. It is also working with the International Trade Commission on new tariff schedule breakouts for organic products, though the process is difficult, Veley said. Three new tariff codes for organic products are planned to take effect next month, and another seven will go into the tariff schedule in the fall, he said.
The new system will be “up and running in about one year,” with its Global portal hoped-for completion earlier, by the fall of 2021, Veley said. But with a one-year implementation after the new organic regulations that are coming out, APHIS is planning on conducting several outreach campaigns to make sure the trade community is aware of the process.