Federal agencies asked for the authority to impose over $200 million in user fees on importers and their suppliers in their fiscal year 2017 budget requests. A Food and Drug Administration user fee on imports would go toward more staff at the borders and "port of entry streamlining," with the agency also requesting direct funding from Congress for implementation of the Foreign Supplier Verification Program. A CPSC user fee on imports, estimated at 0.007% of entered value, would support the commission's import surveillance office, including by funding full implementation of the Risk Assessment Methodology targeting system. The two agencies have been asking for import user fees since FY 2015 (see 14030519).
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
CBP again adjusted its transition timeline for the Automated Commercial Environment following new concerns over the government's readiness to move from the Automated Commercial System, said CBP Feb. 8 (here). "While significant progress has been made, continued concerns about stakeholder readiness have necessitated an updated timeline for the mandatory transition to ACE for electronic entry and entry summary filing," said CBP. The shift marks the second major change to its schedule due to readiness uncertainty (see 1509010017).
CBP should adopt a “soft mandated” approach to its Feb. 28 Automated Commercial Environment deadline for cargo release entry types 01, 03 and 11, keeping the Automated Commercial System online as a fallback, and delay the deadline for both cargo release and entry summary for all other entry types until 90 days after programming has been finalized, said the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America in a letter to agency officials dated Feb. 2 (here).
A ban on importation of 201 species of newt and salamander took effect Jan. 28, according to a public bulletin from the Fish and Wildlife Service (here). FWS had listed the species as “injurious” under the Lacey Act in a Jan. 13 Federal Register notice (here), due to their potential to spread a fungus that kills salamanders. The ban applies to importation of any live or dead specimen, including for transit through the U.S., of the genera Chioglossa, Cynops, Euproctus, Hydromantes, Hynobius, Ichthyosaura, Lissotriton, Neurergus, Notophthalmus, Onychodactylus, Paramesotriton, Plethodon, Pleurodeles, Salamandra, Salamandrella, Salamandrina, Siren, Taricha, Triturus, and Tylototriton, but not to eggs or gametes or specimens imported under permit for zoological, educational, medical, or scientific purposes. Exportation is still allowed from a designated port or under a designated port exception permit, but must occur directly from the state where the specimen is present due to a ban on interstate transport.
A federal district judge in Norfolk on Feb. 1 approved a $13.15 million dollar settlement of Lacey Act violations by Lumber Liquidators, said the Justice Department in a press release (here). Agreed to by Lumber Liquidators in October to settle charges it falsely declared the country of origin and type of wood of its imported flooring (see 1510080012), the settlement marks the largest financial penalty ever under the Lacey Act, said DOJ. In addition to $7.8 million in fines and over $4 million in criminal and civil forfeiture, the settlement includes over $1 million in community service payments. Some of that money will go toward funding the development of a wood identification tool that could be used to identify timber species at the border to make sure they’re not listed as endangered or threatened, said DOJ.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Jan 19-22 in case they were missed.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is adopting as final its regulations defining exemptions from Lacey Act requirements for “common food crops” and “common cultivars,” in a Jan. 25 final rule (here). APHIS had set definitions for the terms on an interim basis in 2013 (see 13070808). The final rule adopts the interim rule without change.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will allow full filing of Lacey Act declarations through the Automated Commercial Environment “effective immediately,” it said on Jan. 22 (here). “APHIS and CBP are confident that the system is now ready for full Lacey Act integration based on the sustained success of LAP’s pilot project, which has experienced no data or system errors,” said APHIS. “APHIS has determined that its information technology (IT) infrastructure is sufficiently robust to handle the expected user activity, and the Agency will continue to expand its IT capabilities through an upgrade this summer.” Filers may continue to use the Automated Commercial System to submit Lacey Act declarations until Feb. 28, said APHIS. “We encourage all filers to use this time to test their filing systems in ACE for Lacey Act declarations.”