Next Phase of Lacey Act Enforcement for Imported Plants and Products Thereof Begins April 1, 2009
Issue 23, February 25, 2009
Phase 2 in the enforcement of the Lacey Act is scheduled to begin on April 1, 2009.
Upon the effective enforcement date of phase 2, Importers of subject products will be required to submit a completed Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) form (PPQ505) upon entry into the United States. A copy of the form, along with instructions for completion, is available at-
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/lacey_act/downloads/declarationform.pdf
In coordination with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), APHIS will accept the form in electronic format when submitted as part of an entry/entry summary submission via the Automated Broker Interface (ABI). DHL Global Forwarding will offer this service to our customers. We will require that customers provide us with either a copy of the form or the data in electronic format in order to complete the submission.
The products subject to the declaration requirement on April 1st are those classified under the following HTSUS headings: 4401, 4403, 4404, 4406, 4407, 4408, 4409, 4417, and 4418.
Additional products will become subject to the declaration requirement upon implementation of future phases of enforcement. Details on the enforcement phases can be found at-
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/lacey_act/downloads/FederalRegister02-03-2009.pdf
At present, APHIS plans to enforce the declaration requirement on formal consumption entries only. At the present time, APHIS does not intend to enforce the declaration requirement for informal entries, personal importations, mail (unless subject to formal entry), transportation and exportation entries, in-transit movements, carnet importations, foreign trade zone entries, or warehouse entries.
Also, APHIS has stated that they will only enforce the declaration requirement for the actual product being imported and not the materials that ordinarily accompany the product (e.g., tags, labels, manuals, and warranty cards).
Additional information on the Lacey Act requirements is available at-
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/lacey_act/index.shtml
Regards,
Paul Vroman
Regulatory & Compliance Consultant
DHL Global Forwarding
