Agencies with a hand in regulating trade issued their plans for upcoming regulatory actions in the Spring 2015 Unified Agenda (here). Among the rules planned by the agencies are FDA’s Foreign Supplier Verification Program, a proposed overhaul of Food Safety and Inspection Service nutrition labeling, changes to Fish and Wildlife Service import regulations, and new product safety standards on recreational off-road vehicles and extension cords.
Lacey Act
The Lacey Act and subsequent amendments make it unlawful to import, export, transport, sell, receive, or acquire any plant, fish or wildlife obtained in violation of U.S., tribal or foreign law, as well as any injurious wildlife. The law is administered by the Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and CBP. APHIS has been implementing Lacey Act declaration requirements since 2009. Lacey Act declarations may be filed by the importer of record or its licensed customs broker, and include information on imported item's species name, value, quantity, and country where it was harvested.
CBP added several new Partner Government Agency Message Set Implementation Guidelines, it said in a CSMS message (here). Among the new agencies "ready for coding" for the Automated Commercial Environment (here) are:
Lumber Liquidators suspended sales of all laminate flooring it sourced from China while it conducts a review of formaldehyde certification and labeling practices at its Chinese suppliers, it said in a May 7 press release (here). The company is under investigation by the Consumer Product Safety Commission and faces several class action lawsuits based on allegations of excessive formaldehyde in its wood flooring products (see 1503260020). The Justice Department also plans to file charges against the company for Lacey Act violations (see 1504300019). Lumber Liquidators has been sending out home formaldehyde test kits to purchasers of its laminate flooring products, and found “over 97%” of its customers’ homes “were within the protective guidelines established by the World Health Organization for formaldehyde levels in indoor air,” it said in the press release.
The Justice Department will bring criminal charges against Lumber Liquidators for Lacey Act violations, according to the company’s quarterly report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 29 (here). DOJ has been investigating Lumber Liquidators products since at least September 2013, when it executed a search warrant at the company’s corporate offices (see 13092716). According to news reports from that time, the raid may have been related to wood imported by Lumber Liquidators that originated in Russia but was entered as coming from a different company. Lumber Liquidators now reports that “in recent communications, the DOJ indicted that it is seeking criminal charges under the Lacey Act.” A DOJ spokesman said the “investigation is ongoing,” but declined to comment further.
CBP plans to provide an outline of cargo release processes within the Automated Commercial Environment on May 15, said Steve Hilsen, lead executive of the Single Window Program Office at CBP. Hilsen and ACE Business Office Acting Director Deborah Augustin spoke about Single Window progress at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America conference on April 22 in Orlando, Florida. Most of the Partner Government Agency functionalities will begin production as of June 27, though there will be some delay in adding non-Lacey Act capabilities for Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Hilsen said. A CBP presentation included a number of "key dates" in preparation of the Nov. 1 requirement for electronic summary and entry filing in ACE (here).
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., reintroduced in recent days legislation that would remove Lacey Act provisions making violations of foreign law illegal. The Freedom from Over-Criminalization and Unjust Seizures (FOCUS) Act, S-1019, would also remove criminal penalties in the law, and instead put in place “a reasonable civil penalty system,” said Paul’s office in a statement (here), with penalties of up to $200,000. The bill also confirms “all fish, wildlife, or plants imported, exported, transported, sold, received, acquired, or purchased in violation” of the Lacey Act would be subject to forfeiture. Both lawmakers last introduced the legislation 2012.
Lawmakers introduced the following trade-related bills since International Trade Today's last legislative update:
CBP is seeking participants in a new working group to inform its development of the Automated Commercial Environment for non-Lacey Act commodities regulated by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The working group will comprise members of APHIS-related industry, software developers, and APHIS and CBP representatives, said CBP in a CSMS message (here). Participants will review data elements required in the APHIS partner government agency message set in ACE, as well as the impact of the transition to ACE on business processes. The working group will hold two three-hour conference calls per week for four weeks. Importers and software developers interested in participating should email the relevant CBP and trade community working group leads by April 16, said CBP (here).
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for March 30 - April 3 in case they were missed.
A Texas company has been charged with Lacey Act violations for falsely claiming shrimp it imported from Mexico was caught in U.S. waters, said the Justice Department on March 31 (here). According to DOJ, Garcia Shrimp bought 35,000 pounds of Mexican shrimp, and upon arrival it removed the “Mexico labels” from the packages and attached new ones saying the shrimp was caught in U.S. waters. The company also created “false records and bills of lading to make it appear that the shrimp was caught by a U.S.-flagged fishing vessel,” DOJ alleged. The seafood was eventually sold to a New Orleans-based seafood distributor for $120,800, said DOJ. If convicted, Garcia Shrimp faces a fine of $500,000 and five years of probation.