The Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service published a Federal Register notice this week establishing the implementation dates for the import declaration requirements for all plant and plant products as a result of the Lacey Act.
The 2008 Farm Bill (the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008), effective May 22, 2008, amended the Lacey Act by expanding its protection to a broader range of plants and plant products, and the statutory effective date is December 15, 2008. The Lacey Act Amendments were enacted to help to prevent illegal logging practices throughout the world.
Under the act, importers of "plant and plant products" will be required to file an import declaration at the time of entry that will provide the following:
- scientific name of plant (including genus & species)
- value of importation
- quantity of the plant
- name of the country in which the plant was harvested
- for paper and paperboard products with recycled content, state the average % recycled content without regard for species or country of harvest.
APHIS is accepting comments on the implementation plans set forth in the Federal Register notice until December 8, 2008.
Under the current implementation plans, effective December 15, 2008, importers may voluntarily present a paper import declaration at the time of entry. There will be no enforcement by government agencies for failure to file the paper documents from the time period of December 15, 2008 through April 1, 2009. By April 1, 2009, U.S. Customs and Border Protection plans to implement an electronic declaration system which will replace the paper declaration. On April 1, 2009, or once the electronic system is available, APHIS will begin enforcement of the declaration for wood and certain wood products and certain live plants and related products. Products classified in HTS Chapters 44 (wood and articles of wood) and Chapter 6 (live trees, plants, bulbs, cut flowers, ornamental foliage, etc) will be covered during this phase.
The next phase will begin approximately on July 1, 2009 and at that point import declarations will be required for goods classified in Chapter 47(wood pulp), Chapter 48(paper & articles of), Chapter 92(musical instruments) and Chapter 94(furniture).
The final phase will begin after September 30, 2009, and will expand the import declaration requirements for goods classified in Chapters 12, 13, 12, 45, 46, 66, 93 95, 97 and 97.
Additional information on the Lacey Act is available on the APHIS website