The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will delay its deadline for ACE filing of its “APHIS Core” partner government agency (PGA) message set until January 2021, it said in an emailed bulletin June 30. APHIS had originally set a mandatory use date of Aug. 3, but “in response to stakeholder concerns about operational and economic setbacks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, APHIS will publish a second Federal Register notice in the coming weeks that will delay implementation,” the agency said. “This action will give the trade community time to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare for this change.” In the meantime, filers should continue to prepare for mandatory filing, APHIS said. The Aug. 3 deadline was set to include APHIS-regulated plants, plant products, animal products, or live dog imports, besides Lacey Act data already required in ACE, but was not going to include live animal imports, APHIS had said.
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.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for March 30 - April 3 in case they were missed.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will begin enforcing Lacey Act import declaration requirements on 29 new tariff lines on Oct. 1, 2020, it said in a notice. Products newly covered by the Lacey At requirements include essential oils in chapter 33; trunks, cases and suitcases in chapter 42; oriented strand board and wooden containers and pallets in chapter 44; musical instruments in chapter 92; and monopods, bipods, tripods and similar articles of wood in chapter 96.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Feb. 24-28 in case they were missed.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is finalizing a new de minimis exemption from Lacey Act declaration requirements for importers. Under the final rule, importers will not have to submit declarations for products with minimal amounts of plant material, with limitations also set on the total amount of plant material on an entry line. The final rule takes effect April 1.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Feb. 10-14 in case they were missed.
New regulations setting a new de minimis exemption from Lacey Act declaration requirements for importers is now set for publication, after the Office of Management and Budget approved its review of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service final rule. As proposed by APHIS in July 2018 (see 1807060013), importers would not have to submit declarations for products with minimal amounts of plant material, with thresholds based on either weight or volume at either the product or entry line level. OMB completed its approval “consistent with change,” which means the final rule can be published, albeit with some substantive changes required by OMB.
Partner government agencies list several new regulations on their lists of upcoming rulemakings in the Fall 2019 Unified Agenda. The Food and Drug Administration says it intends to propose new recordkeeping requirements for high-risk foods, and again lists proposed rules to revise written assurance requirements under its Food Safety Modernization Act regulations. The Fish and Wildlife Service intends to expand its list of ports designated for importation of wildlife, and the Commerce Department is set to modify its licensing requirements for steel imports to monitor transshipment through Canada and Mexico.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
SAN ANTONIO -- The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will set up a range of outreach options, including a help desk, to assist importers, customs brokers and software developers with the upcoming mandatory use of the APHIS “Core” partner government agency message set in ACE, said Dr. Vivek Kamath of APHIS at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America's annual conference April 16. The agency is still in the “planning phases” for the move and the “final timeline is not yet decided,” Kamath said.