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.
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.
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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.
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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:
APHIS Still in Planning Phases for Mandatory APHIS Core in ACE, Will Set Up Help Desk for Transition
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.
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 a final rule. The annual increase for inflation raises penalties about 2 percent over penalty amounts set in 2018, FWS said.
A timber conglomerate backed by a prominent Chinese national is illegally extracting timber from Gabon and the Republic of the Congo, watchdog group Environmental Investigation Agency said in a March 25 news release. The Dejia Group is alleged to have supplied timber to the U.S. and "other countries where the importation of illegally sourced timber is a crime, including France, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Greece," the EIA said. U.S. authorities are currently investigating possible Lacey Act violations related to the use of veneers from Evergreen Hardwoods Inc. (see 1903190027), which EIA said is a major importer of Dejia Group timber. “The Dejia-Evergreen case demonstrates the need for US authorities to routinely check due diligence systems, and to vigorously enforce the Lacey Act,” said Lisa Handy, director of EIA’s Forest Campaign. “Otherwise, illegal timber will continue to flow into the US, and American consumers will remain unwitting supporters of devastating forest crime.” The EU should consider all timber products from the Republic of the Congo and Gabon high risk under the EU Timber Regulations, EIA said in recommendations based on the report.