Energy Department Proposes New ACE Filing Requirements for Energy Efficiency Standards

The Energy Department on Dec. 29 issued a proposed rule (here) that would require the filing in the Automated Commercial Environment at time of entry of “certifications of admissibility” for each shipment of products covered by DOE energy efficiency standards. Filers would be required to submit data elements referring to importers’ annual certifications if on file in DOE’s Compliance and Certification Management System. If not, filers would have to submit data on the specific product being imported. Additional data would be required if the product is a component incorporated into a final product. New filing requirements would take effect two years after publication of any final rule, said DOE. Comments on the proposed rule are due Feb. 12.

UPDATE: The proposed regulations say the certification of admissibility must be filed “before the entry of the unit(s) at the port of arrival." The preamble of the proposed rule says the certification must be filed before “arrival at a U.S. port of entry.” The Energy Department did not comment.

UPDATE 2: According to an Energy Department spokeswoman, the agency's "intent with the proposal is that the certification will be filed at the same time as the entry is filed with CBP."

Certification Required at Entry for ‘Covered Products’ Subject to Energy Efficiency Standards

The new import certification requirements would apply to all “covered products” subject to DOE energy efficiency standards in 10 CFR 430 or 10 CFR 431 and not intended for exportation, that fall under a list of HTS numbers included in DOE’s proposed rule, said the agency. That would include appliances, heaters and air conditioners, televisions, lamps and light bulbs, faucets and toilets, external battery supplies and battery chargers, and electric motors, among other products.

Component parts. The filing of a certification would also be required if a covered product is a component part of a final product. For example, an importer of a treadmill would have to file a certification with the shipment if that treadmill includes an electric motor. Additional data elements would have to be filed referring to the final product.

Products not yet subject to standards. Products that are “covered” by the proposed rule but are not subject to standards, either because DOE has not set standards or because compliance is not yet required, would be treated like products that are not covered. No certification of admissibility would be required.

Filers Refer to Annual Certification; Additional Elements if Importer Hasn’t Certified

Data elements required in the proposed rule would differ based on whether the importer has filed its required annual certification in DOE’s Compliance and Certification Management System. The filer would be required to say whether the product or equipment has been certified in CCMS, and if it has provide the following data:

• CCMS ticket number
• CCMS attachment identification number assigned to the certification submission
• The line number in the submission corresponding to the basic model certified

No certificate on file. If the covered product or equipment has not been certified by the importer, the filer would have to submit data elements specific to the imported product, as follows:

• Type of product or equipment (in the form of a three-digit code)
• Brand name of the covered product or equipment
• Individual model number of the covered product or equipment
• Original equipment manufacturer of the covered product or equipment
• Contact name and e-mail address for the importer of record.

Additional data elements for components. If the covered product or equipment is a component part incorporated into a final product, the certification of admissibility would have to include the brand name and individual model number of the imported final product. Importers are currently not required to submit this information in their annual certifications, so the additional data elements would be required regardless of whether an importer’s annual certification is on file in CCMS. DOE is seeking comments on whether it would be less of a burden to require final product information with each shipment or in the importer’s annual certification.

Filing of Certification Only Allowed in ACE

The proposed rule would mandate all certifications of admissibility be filed in the ACE system. It includes no provisions for paper filing.

Certifications to Determine Admissibility

According to DOE, the proposed certification requirement “will allow DOE to notify CBP if an importer is attempting to import a covered product or equipment that DOE has determined fails to meet the applicable energy conservation standard.” Requiring filers to say whether an annual certification is on file for the covered product or equipment “would allow DOE to identify importers that have not complied with these requirements, including potentially the failure to test; ensure that the product or equipment does, in fact, meet the applicable standards; and, if not, take appropriate enforcement action.”

Under a final rule issued in 2013 (see 13070322), CBP will refuse admission to any consumption entry covered by DOE energy efficiency standard if DOE notifies it that the covered import does not comply. CBP may allow conditional release of the shipment so that it may be brought into compliance.

No Significant Impact on Brokers, Says DOE

DOE said it conducted interviews with customs brokers before it issued this proposed rule, and believes much of the data is already available on invoices and “can be keyed in during the electronic filing process that brokers and importers already go through and thus should have minimal impact on both the importer and customs broker.” Other data elements, like the individual model number and CCMS certificate information is not currently provided by importers to their brokers, but “customs brokers indicated they would most likely go to their client (the importer) to ask them for any missing information, which the importer would have as part of the process of certifying compliance to DOE,” said the agency. “Because this proposed rule entails only an electronic reporting requirement through ACE, DOE does not anticipate any significant incremental investment in product or capital conversion costs to comply,” it said.

Brokers would need to play a role in getting the word out to importers of the new requirements, said DOE. “Brokers maintain databases of their customers and associated products, and one of their service offerings is to be proactive with their clients in notifying them of new regulations,” it said. “In interviews, brokers indicated they would likely review their customer databases to determine which companies are subject to new requirements and alert them to the additional data requirements discussed above. By contacting customers prior to the regulations going into effect, brokers can minimize the likelihood of any delays due to new DOE reporting requirements and also give customers time to prepare for the new requirements, particularly given the proposed two-year lead time.”

As importers are already required to submit annual certifications through CCMS, information required on certifications of admissibility would only “need to be obtained and keyed in only once per year, for the first shipment of the covered product or equipment following the annual CCMS filing,” said DOE. “For all subsequent certifications of admissibility submitted over the course of the year, the importer would only be required to electronically resubmit the same data, and the burden imposed by these subsequent electronic submissions would be negligible,” it said.