APHIS will on Aug. 15 end its “core” pilot, which includes all filings except those required by the Lacey Act, such as PGA data required for imports of plants, live animals and animal products under APHIS’ Animal Care, Biotechnology Regulatory Services, Veterinary Services and Plant Protection and Quarantine programs, APHIS said in a notice (here). After that date, "entry filers will be required to file electronic entries in ACE with APHIS data and some or all APHIS forms using the method designated on the CBP Web site for the submission of the APHIS data and forms," but “APHIS will still collect some paper documentation, such as phytosanitary certificates and health certificates for live animals and animal products,” under an Office of Management and Budget waiver. APHIS said it is ending its core pilot, which began in October, because it has “proven successful.” Lacey Act entry data has been required in ACE since March 31 (see 1603250048).
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 issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The Fish and Wildlife Service is increasing amounts of civil penalties for violations of the laws and regulations it administers, including the Lacey Act and Endangered Species Act, it said in an interim rule (here). The one-time “catch up,” which more than doubles some penalty amounts, was required by the Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, signed into law in November, and will be followed by annual adjustments for inflation. Penalties for certain violations of the Endangered Species Act will rise to nearly $50,000, while some Lacey Act penalties will increase to a maximum of $25,000. The increase takes effect July 28, with comments on the change due Aug. 29.
Lacey Act declarations are required "for all formal consumption entries of plant and plant products" into the U.S., "including those entries from foreign trade zones and bonded warehouses," the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said in a notice (here). There's been confusion over several years as to whether an exemption to the requirements applies to type 06 entries (see 1602180035). The confusion stems from mentions of FTZs within a 2009 Federal Register notice (here) that said it is "not requiring a declaration for informal entries, including most personal shipments, mail, transportation and exportation entries, intransit movements, carnet importations (i.e., merchandise or equipment that will be re-exported within a year), and foreign trade zone and warehouse entries."
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for June 6-10 in case they were missed.
A federal judge recently approved a Department of Homeland Security search warrant request to investigate possible wood imports that violate the Lacey Act, said a June 6 filing with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. The request involves Global Plywood and Lumber, a California company suspected of illegally importing wood from Peru. The DHS investigative arm within ICE, Homeland Security Investigation, began the investigation last year after the Peruvian Forest Service provided evidence that an illegal wood shipment was destined for the Port of Houston, the filing said.
PHOENIX -- Plans for a rulemaking to eliminate hybrid filing as part of the ACE transition remain unsettled, said Brenda Smith, executive assistant commissioner of CBP’s Office of Trade in an interview at the West Coast Trade Symposium on May 25. The agency is being "very careful because that would be a significant change in policy," she said. "Right now we're trying to decide, does it make sense," she said. CBP is "still having that internal discussion," but will "need to communicate" a decision in "the fairly near future," Smith said. CBP previously sought input on prohibiting filings that are a combination of electronic and paper filings (see 1510090017), which drew some concerns within industry (see 1511100030).
Entry summaries for type 06 foreign trade zone entries that are also subject to antidumping and countervailing duties should be filed in the Automated Commercial System until further notice, said CBP (here). “The ADCVD information is not writing over to ACS, resulting in statements not processing correctly,” said CBP. “A bug has been created and is actively being worked on,” it said. CBP has set a May 28 deadline for filing of type 06 entries and entry summaries with either no PGA data or with Lacey Act or National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data in ACE (see 1602080042).
The ACE pilot on filing of data required by the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is expected to end in June, said CBP (here), presumably opening up FSIS for full ACE filing. That will be followed in July by the end of ACE pilots on filing of Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service “core” (i.e., non-Lacey Act) data and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) data. CBP has set a July 23 deadline for all entries and entry summaries under most entry types in ACE (see 1605200034). Pilots for APHIS Lacey Act, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) data are already over, with filing now open to all.
Federal agencies with a hand in regulating trade released their regulatory schedules as part of the Spring 2016 Unified Agenda (here). Alongside customs regulations set for publication by the Treasury Department (see 1605230009 and Department of Homeland Security 1605190046), the Department of Agriculture and National Marine Fisheries Service set an ambitious agenda of trade-related rulemaking, including new seafood permit and filing requirements and Lacey Act forfeiture regulations. Other agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration and EPA, continue to list regulations on drug imports and formaldehyde standards that have been in the pipeline for years without activity, scheduling their publication with the next several months.