The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is currently conducting an Automated Line Release (ALR)/Border Release Advance Screening and Selectivity (BRASS) pilot blanket declaration program for the Lacey Act declaration, for entities that had earlier requested participation for their Phase II products.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has revised its enforcement phase-in schedule for the Lacey Act declaration requirement for imported plants and plant products.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is expected to publish a Federal Register notice containing revised enforcement requirements for the Lacey Act Declaration for plants and plant products before October 1, 2009, the date the next phase of implementation is scheduled to begin1.
CBP has issued CSMS messages stating that second versions of the ACE Portal Reports Dictionaries have been completed and will be available soon.
The European Commission has published its annual report on barriers to trade and investment in the U.S.
Trade associations such as the National Association of Manufacturers and U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and non-governmental organizations such as the Sierra Club and Rainforest Action Network (47 groups in all) have issued a consensus statement recommending a number of changes to the way the Lacey Act Declaration is implemented and administered.
CBP has issued a notice announcing that the 2009 Trade Symposium is scheduled for December 8 - 10, 2009, and will be held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC. Further information regarding registration procedures and symposium details will be made available in the early fall. (Notice, dated 06/29/09, available at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/trade/trade_outreach/trade_symposium_09.xml)
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service sent its list of approved applicants for the Lacey Act Automated Line Release/Border Release Advance Screening and Selectivity (BRASS) pilot program1 to U.S. Customs and Border Protection on June 10, 2009.
In response to a question about the Buy American policy posed at a press conference in Canada, Secretary of State Clinton stated that the Buy American provision is not being enforced in any way that is inconsistent with U.S. international trade obligations. She acknowledged the concerns that there may be elements of the international trade obligations or absences of agreements that should be looked at so that the U.S. can promote more procurement and other kinds of trade interactions and assured Canadian officials that the U.S. will take a very close look at that. (Press briefing, dated 06/13/09, available at http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/06/124717.htm.)